Prodigal Uchiha
by antilogicgirl
Summary: A mission takes Sakura and Naruto into Sound territory, where they find Sasuke. He agrees to come back to Konoha with them, to fight Akatsuki, but he must first survive to pass the Chuunin Exam.
1. Fire Fight

**A/N:** Here's chapter one of one of two stories I'm working on right now, both dealing with Sasuke's return. I'm giving Sasuke a very OOC personality in this fic, but it's all explained later on. Being around Orochimaru would change anyone, right? Anyway, there aren't that many warnings for this chapter, except the usual OOC (you know I love it), and a bit of mild cursing. No adult themes, guys.

**Legal Stuffiness**: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters within.

* * *

**Time:** 4.5 years after Sasuke leaves to go to Orochimaru 

**Place:** Sound Territory

**Mission:** Find Akatsuki

* * *

Chapter 1: Fire Fight

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto grabbed Sakura's arm, jerking her back to the safety of the boulder he was hiding behind. "If they see you, we're both dead. It doesn't matter if he's down there, that battle is too much for either of us." It was true, and she knew it. Sakura looked down at the sodden grass she stood on. Why did it have to be this way? They were so close! Sasuke was no more than fifty meters away, and she was powerless to reach him. She sighed.

* * *

One hour earlier…

Sounds of metal clashing against metal rang out to the east, and shouting accompanied it. "Did you hear that, Naruto?" Sakura stopped, straining her ears. Her companion nodded his head. "Should we go check it out? I mean, it probably has nothing to do with our mission, but if we could help someone that's in trouble, all the better." Naruto bit his lower lip, thinking.

"Sakura-chan, I think that we should be careful. This is the Sound's territory. We might be walking right into a trap." She agreed, and they proceeded more slowly, and making absolutely no sound. After a few moments, they came to a clearing in the forest. When they saw nearly a hundred men fighting it out on the patch of grass, they hid behind two rather large trees. Watching from this position, they saw that there were nearly equal numbers of Sound and Mist nins in the clearing. Suddenly, an enormous ball of flame erupted from the other side of the clearing.

Sakura stared for a moment, then looked over at Naruto, whose face was just as dumbfounded. She used sign language to say, _Sasuke?_ Naruto signed back.

_It's possible. This is Sound territory._ Then he peered around the side of his tree again. They watched as twenty nins fell to the ground, some of them from the Sound as well as the Mist. If it was Sasuke, he didn't care what happened to his own people. Naruto looked over at Sakura again. Signing, he said, _Should we get closer?_ She nodded, and they ghosted from tree to tree and came to rest uphill from the clearing, where they could watch the battle from above, but still be close enough to see what was going on.

The fireball-user took out another large group of men, but there were suddenly a large number of Mist nins flooding into the clearing from the south. Sakura watched in horror as men and women were cut down, leaving only a small group of Sound nins surrounded. The fireball-user stepped forward, repeating his jutsu over and over again, but the men only rushed at his group all the harder. The Sound nins were overwhelmed, and seemed as if they were going to be defeated. Then, Sakura saw it.

The sun had been behind the clouds for a while, and chose that very moment to show itself. She saw a glint of red, and when she strained her eyes, she saw that the bit of red she had glimpsed was accompanied by a portion of white. She stared openmouthed. Her hand reached out to Naruto. Her trembling fingers grasped his shirt. "It's him…" Sakura's voice was quiet. Naruto had seen it, too, and he nodded. "We have to help him, Naruto!" That was when she had tried to go down to Sasuke.

Now, an hour after they first saw the Sound and Mist fighting, Sakura was trying not to cry. "I just want to help him, Naruto. To give him a chance. Isn't there anything we can do? I'm sure that you could create enough clones to take care of most of those Mist nins if you really wanted to…" Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Are you trying to say that I don't wanna help Sasuke, Sakura?" His voice was dangerously quiet. "Because if you are, you're wrong. I want to help him. If I could think of anything, I'd do it. I just don't think that I should expend that much chakra just now. Kyuubi isn't feeling very generous at the moment, since it has to do with Sasuke. He doesn't like him." Sakura snorted. "Well, he doesn't. Sasuke nearly killed me, and if I die, so does Kyuubi." She pursed her lips. That was understandable, in a way. But their current situation was not good. They were in an awkward position, even if they were to withdraw. There was too much chance that they would be seen.

In fact, it seemed that they _had_ been seen. By the Sound nins. Sakura cursed. "Damn my hair! It's too bright!" She watched as the Sound nins made a rush at the eastern flank of the Mist, and before the Mist could recover, a few of them had broken through. Naruto sighed. He unsnapped his kunai holster, as she did the same, and they waited. In no more than twenty seconds, there were five Sound nins standing in a semi-circle around them. Their path was blocked, and their only chance was to fight.

A slight rustle was heard overhead, and a blue and black blur fell to the ground in front of Sakura and Naruto. The blur stood, and became Sasuke. He wore a shirt of dark blue, with wide sleeves that covered his hands. On the upper left sleeve, there was the symbol of the Uchiha, red and white, just as Sakura and Naruto had seen before. The high collar of the shirt tried but did not completely succeed in covering the lower half of his face. Black hakama pants allowed him greater movement of his legs, and he wore sandals that resembled those Jiraiya wore. His eyes were the characteristic red of the Sharingan. One of his eyebrows rose. "Sakura. I thought it was you. No one else has hair that color. It's good to see you." He turned to Naruto, a slightly amused look in his eyes. "Dobe."

Naruto relaxed a little, leaning against the boulder. "Sasuke no baka…you ran away from your men. A little overwhelmed, were you?" His smirk took Sasuke by surprise, apparently. The dark haired man's eyebrows looked like they were trying to find their way into his hairline. "Has Orochimaru turned you into a bastard and a coward?"

Regaining his former composure, Sasuke said, "You always did talk big, Naruto." He waved a hand at his men. The five Sound nins ran back down the hill. The entire time her former teammates were talking, Sakura's emotions were wreaking havoc in her mind. It was right about this time that she had enough. With speed that surprised even herself, she moved forward, grasped Sasuke by the throat, and yanked him off of his feet, then slammed him to the ground. Sitting on his hips, she peered angrily into his now-black eyes.

"Sasuke," she growled, "If you _ever_ hit me again, I swear, I'll kill you." He blinked in confusion for a moment, then he seemed to remember their last meeting. He _had_ knocked her out, and left her on a roadside bench. Naruto stood helplessly, his eyes wide and apparently unable to speak. It was probably better that he didn't. Sakura's freakish strength was sometimes rather frightening, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

The Uchiha's voice came in a strangled whisper, "Gomen, Sakura." His hands moved to her wrists, and grasped them firmly. He tugged, but they would not budge. "Please, Sakura, let me up…" He then began gasping for air, and stopped breathing altogether. Sakura's eyes widened. She sighed, and let go of his neck. Using a simple medical jutsu, she restored his airway, and raised an eyebrow at him as he sputtered, breathing again.

"You're more fragile than you look, Sasuke." She was still sitting on him, looking down at him with a mixture of amusement and disdain. He pushed himself up on to his elbows, looking up at her. "What?" His eyes had found something very interesting about her face, it seemed, because he was staring at her.

"I didn't think you would do that. No. I didn't think you _could_ do that." He smiled slightly. "You must be really pissed at me." She nodded. _That's not the half of it, moron._ Then, he seemed to remember his position. "Will you let me up now?" She snorted, then swung her right leg over to meet her left, and helped him up off of the ground. "Why are you two here, anyway?"

Neither Sakura nor Naruto said anything.

"Official business, huh? Not just coming to say hello?" Sakura's mouth nearly fell open. Sasuke was being…playful. It just wasn't like him at all. Had he developed a sense of humor while living with Orochimaru? He then looked over at Naruto. "I don't suppose that you two are just going to let me go, are you?"

Naruto started to shake his head, but then stopped. "It isn't part of our mission to bring you back."

Sakura stared at Naruto. Didn't he want to bring Sasuke back as badly as she did? "Naruto, I want to talk to Sasuke for a moment. Can you take a walk?" Her companion's eyes widened, but her tone was not full of her old fangirl excitement, so he didn't think she was going to try to molest Sasuke or anything, which might lead to possible complications. He nodded, and walked over to the treeline. "Not too far, Naruto." He gave her a "thumbs up" sign, and smiled. When they were alone, Sakura turned to Sasuke.

"Is that really you, Sasuke?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" He smiled. Her eyes narrowed. He was smiling too easily.

"It's been more than three years. I thought Orochimaru would have stuffed himself into you by now." She spat out the name, and Sasuke flinched as she did so. What had happened to the calm and collected Uchiha she had known since she was a little girl? He looked like Sasuke, had his voice, but was it really him?

The dark haired man stepped toward her. "Ask me anything. I'll answer any question you want. It's really me, Sakura." She stood rooted to the spot. What could she ask him that only he would know? The two of them were always around Naruto and Kakashi…then it came to her. There was one time when the two of them were alone.

Her eyes rose from the ground to his face. Eyes the color of night met hers, and she took a deep breath. "What did you mean, when you left? Your last words to me…what did you mean?" Now, it was Sasuke's turn to look away. "Do you remember? Or would you?" Her voice came out sounding hurt, and angry.

When he looked back up at her, she saw anger in his eyes as well. "How could I forget that, Sakura? You were the only person who knew I was going to leave. I don't know how you knew, but you did. I said thank you then." He had been steadily moving toward her as he spoke, small steps taking him ever closer. When he stood no more than a foot away, he said quietly, "I meant what I said then. I thanked you for caring about me enough to try and stop me. No one else even suspected that I was going to leave. But somehow, you knew." His hand reached out and took hers. "Thank you, Sakura."

"Sasuke, you're an asshole." Sakura could hardly believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. "I would have gone with you if you would have asked. You didn't care enough about me then to even consider me worth thinking of…" She'd been thinking these things, secretly, in the back of her mind, for some time now, even if she hadn't wanted to face it, and now they were just spilling out of her mouth.

* * *

Sakura's eyes had become like green flames. It was obvious that she had kept all of this inside, and he was going to let her take it all out on him before he spoke. She continued. "Was I just not good enough? Did I need to beat it into your thick skull? Why? Why did you leave? Was it for your revenge, or did you just want to get away from me that badly?"

Sasuke let her unload her anger on him. It wasn't as if he didn't deserve it. When she finished, she simply stood there, fuming at him. Taking her other hand as well, he breathed deeply. "It was both, actually. I need to kill my brother, to avenge my clan, Sakura. If I was to become strong enough to do that, I couldn't be around you and Naruto and all of the other people I've come to think of as friends. Having those attachments, I couldn't fight to my fullest. I had no way of extending myself completely. I was always protecting you, wasn't I?"

"Oh, so now you're saying that I was holding you back?"

"Not in so many words. I'm trying to tell you why I did what I did, but you're not really listening." He sighed, frustrated, looking at the ground, the trees…anything but Sakura. Finally, he just gave up on saying anything.

* * *

Sakura's eyes widened. He let go of her hands. Sasuke took hold of her head with trembling hands, and she watched his face grow large in her vision. He leaned forward, and pressed his lips firmly against hers. _What? I must have been hit on the head. Am I dreaming?_ His eyes had closed. Now, with him kissing her the way he was, she somehow understood. Her eyes slid closed, and she kissed him back. In the blackness behind her eyelids, she could forget everything but the feeling of him.

After a long moment, he released her, and pulled away. Her eyes opened. "Why did you kiss me, Sasuke?"

"You know why."

It was true. She did know. "I want you to say it."

He sighed, relenting. "I love you, Sakura. I left because I can't have anyone I love anywhere near me. There. Happy now?"

"No. How can I be, you ass?" _Honestly, how is anyone supposed to be happy in such a situation?_ She rolled her eyes. "Are you ever going to be coming back? If you are, you better do it soon. I'm not waiting around for you. Not anymore."

"That's not fair."

"Fair? You want to talk about what isn't fair? Don't get me started, Sasuke-teme. If you think that you leaving and making everyone in the village worry is fair, you've got another thing coming. If you think that knocking me unconscious so that you can get away is fair, I ought to beat you to a bloody pulp right now. If you think that Chouji, Kiba, Neji, and Naruto getting seriously injured when they went after you is fair, I'll kill you right now. Just because you know I love you and I always have, don't think that I'm going to put my entire life on hold just so that I can be there when you get back."

He listened to her speech, wide eyed. She wasn't finished. "You've gotten stronger, right? If you want to kill your brother, your chance might come soon. I wasn't going to tell you about our mission, but now, I'll let you in on a little bit of it. Akatsuki wants to gather all of those huge monsters that are sealed in various people. They have the Shukaku that was sealed in Gaara. They've been trying to get Naruto, but haven't succeeded yet. If you come back, you may be able to help us take them down." His eyes grew wide.

"You're not serious." He steadied himself. "You guys are dangling Naruto as bait for Akatsuki?"

"Shikamaru's idea. Well, Naruto was in on it too." She said offhandedly. "So, you in, or what?"

Just then, Naruto came back. "Ano…Sakura-chan, I think we better go. The ANBU are coming. They weren't supposed to catch up with us for another three hours, so we better scram." He looked from Sasuke to Sakura, an oddly confused expression on his face. "Sasuke? Why are you still here? Get back to the fight, or the ANBU will find you."

"That's exactly what I want, Naruto. I'm coming with you."

Naruto's eyes tried to pop out of his head. Then, they narrowed to thin slits, looking to Sakura. "You _told_ him! You weren't supposed to! Boy are you in deep sh—"

"Shut up, Naruto." Sakura said threateningly. "The important thing is that we now have Sasuke back. And because we have him back, we have a valuable asset when we're fighting Akatsuki!" She smiled brightly and giggled. Sakura was rather proud of herself. She had gotten Sasuke back, and she didn't even have to beat the crap out of him! That she had attempted to do so already was quite beside the point, really.

Just then, six ANBU entered the small area above the now nearly-done battle. One of them stepped forward. "Uchiha Sasuke. The last person I expected to see." The man turned to Naruto. "So, what is he doing here, sir?"

Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment, looking to Sakura. Sakura signed at him, _He's an ANBU captain now. _Sasuke understood. He couldn't be bait if he had a mask on, could he? Still, it would be surprising to anyone who knew the guy to find him as an ANBU. Sasuke thought he was too loud to do the job. Naruto spoke calmly.

"That's what I was just asking. Apparently, Sasuke no baka has decided that he's learned enough from Orochimaru, and now he's ready to come home." He looked pointedly at the Uchiha. Sasuke simply nodded. Naruto continued, "Restraining him will not be necessary. If he runs, I'll just let Sakura go after him." The ANBU gave a small cough, indicating that he was glad he was not Sasuke.

"Very good, sir. What is the plan?" It was decided that they would return to Konoha for the moment, since there was no sign of Akatsuki. "Ok. Then let's get going." They took off in the direction of Konoha, now with a new addition to their group.

* * *

**A/N**: Well, there you go. No all-out Sasuke/Naruto fight. No Rasengan, no chidori. Plain old human interaction. Anti-climactic, I know, but this is just the beginning. Stay tuned...  



	2. Unceremonious Welcome

**A/N:** I'm trying to get this thing finished soon, but it looks like it's going to be another long one. So, I'm going to get as many chapters up as I can today, and I'll just have to work on it throughout the semester. So. Warnings? OOC. Lots. Mostly with Sasuke, just like the last chapter, but I think Naruto is a little OOC, too. Also, there's a bit of mild cursing in this chapter, but nothing too bad. Beware of the yaoi Kabuto! Um...anything else? Not that I can think of.

**Legal Stuffiness:** Naruto is not my property. I don't even own Konohamaru. Oh, well.

* * *

Last time... 

"Very good, sir. What's the plan?" It was decided that they would return to Konoha for the moment, since there was no sign of Akatsuki. "Ok. Then let's get going." They took off in the direction of Konoha, now with a new addition to their group.

* * *

**Time:** Four and a half years after Sasuke's departure 

**Place:** Konoha

* * *

Chapter 2: Unceremonious Welcome 

One year earlier...

"Go away, Kabuto."

"But Sasuke-sama, I'm supposed to bring you to Orochimaru-sama." The silver-haired man's voice was oily, and obsequious. He was up to something. "He wants to see you." Sasuke snorted. The snake-weilding Sannin _always_ wanted to see him. In fact, he had developed an unhealthy liking for seeing the young Uchiha, which was why Sasuke was trying to limit his contact with him. When Kabuto put a hand on his arm, Sasuke stared down at it, wanting to break it. That would do no good, because the medic nin would just heal it in a matter of minutes, and that would be it. So, he let it be for the moment, and stared at the rock in front of him.

"I'm training, leave me alone." He continued to concentrate his chakra into his fists, punching the large rock in the cave he used for training. Kabuto just pissed him off. Why did he have to act like that? He got his answer when the hand lying on his arm moved up his arm to his shoulder and tugged him, turning his back to the rock. His dark eyes met Kabuto's and an instant later, he was pushed against the stone, with the taller man pressed against him and one of Kabuto's medical jutsus at his neck. _Trapped. Shit. And with his hentai…_

Kabuto's eyes scanned his face. Sasuke knew that look. He'd seen it on Orochimaru often enough. _Geez. Are all of the men in the Sound after me?_ He just stared at Kabuto, betraying none of the panic he was feeling at having a man against him, and he just tried to think happy thoughts while attempting not to lean too far toward the chakra scalpel at his neck. Happy thoughts. Puppies and kittens, birds chirping…no, he'd never really liked those things.

Happy thoughts. Sitting in Ichiraku with Naruto, listening to his loud and exuberant voice expound on how he would be Hokage one day, and then Sasuke calling him a dobe and a deadlast. Those were happy thoughts. The feeling of his mother's hugs, of being comforted. Those were happy thoughts. Then, unbidden, the thought of another embrace rose in his mind. He had been on point of killing someone…had felt arms encircle him from behind him…and a soft voice whispering to him, begging him to stop. Not a happy thought, but those arms had been comforting, and that was the only reason he _had_ actually stopped. _Why do I keep thinking about that? Damn it. Pull yourself together, Sasuke._

In the midst of his thoughts, he didn't even notice when Kabuto began to kiss him, the hand not holding a jutsu coming up to caress the side of his neck. Though he did not notice it at first, it didn't take him long to snap out of his reverie and bite down on Kabuto's tongue. The medic nin jumped back, saying thickly around his injured tongue, "Sasuke-sama! Not so rough!"

Sasuke snorted. "Go away, you hentai. I'm not interested." Kabuto's lips compressed into a thin line. "Just because you got a kiss out of me doesn't mean you'll get anything else. Don't look at me like that. You know as well as I do that I wouldn't have let you if you hadn't had that stupid jutsu held at my neck." Kabuto's eyes flashed in anger, and he left Sasuke's training area quickly. Honestly, everyone had turned into horny little bastards lately! Sasuke continued his training. It was that night that he'd started putting seals on every possible entrance to his room, even the walls and floor. There was no way he was letting Orochimaru or Kabuto into his room.

* * *

As they traveled, Sasuke wondered how long it would be before Orochimaru noticed he was gone. He had never meant to stay with him long enough to let himself become Orochimaru's "container," and he wondered, after his last evasion, how the man would react now that he had really gone. He liked the idea of being a host body less than that of being Orochimaru's boy toy…_ugh_. No, he was _not_ going to think about that right now. He was away from the Sound, away from both of those hentai bastards, and it felt good. He had been training himself for a while now, and he didn't have to use his curse seal at all anymore. That felt good too. He thought he could probably best Orochimaru, which meant he might be able to kill Itachi, too. 

He looked over at Naruto. _An ANBU captain, huh? I guess he isn't that much of a deadlast afterall? We'll have to see._ He looked forward to sparring with him, and wondered vaguely if they would destroy half of the forest when they did. Naruto never could restrain himself when it came to fighting with Sasuke. He was incapable of holding back, it seemed. Or at least, that's how he had been four and a half years earlier.

Then, he turned his face to see Sakura. Her hair was still short. She apparently liked it that way. He couldn't see her face, since he was walking behind her and to the right. Sasuke watched her as she walked, the way she moved, and how she signed to Naruto now and again. The two of them had been having a conversation on and off throughout the day, mostly having to do with Akatsuki, but sometimes about him. Naruto tried to hide his signs from Sasuke, but the Uchiha saw them anyway. Naruto thought they should be wary of him. Especially where Sasuke's attitude toward Sakura was concerned.

_Good old Naruto. Still as protective of her as ever._ He was, it seemed, still very attached to her. Sasuke couldn't blame him. He was rather attached to her himself. Well, that was a little bit of an understatement, but he wasn't going to go advertising (even in his own head) that he loved her.

* * *

_All I'm saying is that we need to keep our wits around him._ Naruto signed at Sakura, trying his best not to let Sasuke see, but he was sure that he could see what he was doing anyway. Sasuke went with them willingly, for which he was glad, but it seemed as if it had been far too easy. Naruto was waiting for the knife in his back, so to speak. Nothing was _ever_ easy when it came to Sasuke, and he was a little scared of what would happen when things decided to go the way they usually did where the Uchiha was concerned. He was worried about Sakura. She was happy that Sasuke was back, that much was obvious, and Naruto supposed that it was to be expected. But the problem was that neither she nor Sasuke were acting like themselves. Sasuke had actually smiled a couple of times when they talked earlier, and Sakura wasn't acting like her old fangirl self around him. 

Sakura signed back to him. _I thought I told you. He's fine. Trust me._ That didn't really satisfy Naruto, but he left it alone after that. He didn't know what they talked about when he took his walk, but whatever it was, he was pretty sure that Sakura had come to a modest assurance that it was Sasuke, and that he was coming back with them willingly. There was a little voice nagging at the back of his head, saying that there was danger, and he needed to be alert.

The danger might not come from Sasuke, but from his former associates. He smiled at Sakura, then slowed his pace, dropping back to talk to Sasuke. He signed to him, _So, how long until you're missed?_ The Uchiha seemed to think for a moment. Naruto watched him. He furrowed his brow in a frown, just like the old Sasuke used to when he was concentrating. It took everything he had not to smile. He used to tell him that he looked constipated when he did that.

Signing back, Sasuke said, _Not long, I guess. I was leading a group of Sound against those Mist nins, but I wasn't supposed to be back until tomorrow night. We have about half a day before my group misses me, then however long it takes them to get back to headquarters. No more than twenty-four hours._ Naruto's eyes widened. He nodded, then ran up front to the ANBU and Sakura. After a quick and silent conference, it was decided that they were going to have to move double-time to make it back to Konoha before the Sound caught up with them. When he told Sasuke, the Uchiha tossed him a small bag.

_Soldier pills?_ Naruto asked when he opened the bag. Sasuke nodded, motioning to the rest of the group. Naruto took one for himself, then gave some to the rest. He threw the bag back to Sasuke, nodding his thanks. The pills gave them a nice energy boost, and they went at top speed for the entire trip back to Konoha, which lasted three days. By Sasuke's estimation, the Sound nins, and possibly Orochimaru and Kabuto as well, were two days behind them, if they decided to follow at all.

* * *

They stood at the gates of Konoha, Sasuke staring up at them, an odd look on his face. Naruto was talking to the two jounin guarding the gates. Sakura was talking to the ANBU. The guards kept eyeing him in suspicion. He did look a little different than he used to, so he didn't really blame them. He had let his hair grow longer, and it no longer stuck up in the back. He was much taller, nearing six feet, and his clothes were nothing like those he wore when he was younger. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and looked around. From the treeline, he thought he saw… 

Sasuke dropped to the ground as a kunai streaked by, precisely where his head would have been. He pushed himself to his feet, and launched himself at where the kunai had originated. As he broke through the bushes, he found nothing, other than a pair of footprints. His eyes narrowed, and he activated the Sharingan, looking around him. He smiled as he saw bark dislodged from a nearby tree. In an instant, he found what he was looking for, and moved toward his target.

Silently, he climbed the tree using the old "sticky feet" chakra climbing technique, then jumped up onto the branch where the offending party stood, still scanning the forest for him. He leaned closer to the person, and whispered, "Nice to see you, too, Ino." She jumped, turned, and pulled a kunai, a startled look in her eyes. Then, a glare of abject hatred entered her eyes, and she took a step toward him. He blinked. _Why is she looking at me like that? _

"You have some nerve coming back here, Sasuke." She put the point of the kunai against his throat. "Chouji nearly died because of you." Her voice was quiet and deadly. He raised an eyebrow.

Raising his left hand, he wrenched the kunai from her grip, and smiled wryly. "You'll have to tell me about this later, Ino. Right now, the Sound are coming. You don't want to be caught out here, do you?" Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "Good. Now come down and get inside the gates with us." He handed her back her weapon and jumped from the branch, landing lightly on the ground. Walking back to the gates, he found Naruto and Sakura still standing there, waiting for him.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked. "Who threw that?"

"I did." Ino came out of the trees, twirling her kunai on her finger. She didn't look happy. One final smirk at Sasuke, and she disappeared inside the gates of the village. Sasuke needed to talk to her, and Chouji, too. Sakura had mentioned something about Chouji being hurt because of him, but hadn't said anything more. There was going to be a lot that he had to catch up on in a very short amount of time. There wasn't going to be a very long period of relaxation. Something he hadn't thought of until this point was what would happen when he saw the Hokage. That made him wince. She'd probably throw him out of her office window.

They all entered the gate, and the ANBU disappeared to put in their report, while Sakura and Naruto led Sasuke down the main street and toward the Hokage's tower. People stared at him as they walked, and he breathed evenly, trying not to notice the way many of them narrowed their eyes in suspicion at him. He sighed. Naruto looked back at him, a quizzical expression on his face. Then he realized what it was that Sasuke was nervous about. "Don't worry, Uchiha. She won't kill you. Just remember: she favors her right jab. You'll be fine." When Sasuke's eyes widened, his friend laughed. "Calm down, baka. She's wanted you back here for a long time. She just wouldn't let me go get you, that's all."

It wasn't as if he'd have gone back with Naruto, but it was nice to know that he had actually tried. They now walked in single file, Naruto in front, then Sasuke, and Sakura brining up the rear. He tried to stay calm, but it was getting more difficult the closer they got to the tower. He wondered if the Hokage would really be happy to see him, or if she would throw him into a cell. If that happened, things could get complicated. His legs felt like lead as they walked up the stairs to Tsunade's office. Naruto entered the building first, saying that they should wait outside.

Long moments later, a familiar face peeked out of the door, eyes wide, and Sasuke tried to recall her name. Sakura stepped forward. "Shizune-san!" She hugged her fellow apprentice, and the older woman smiled. "So…how's it going in there?"

Shizune smiled nervously. "Tsunade-sama is grilling him right now. You know how she is when it comes to him. She can't keep her temper. So far, she hasn't broken anything yet. I guess that's a good sign." She looked over at Sasuke, and nodded. "Good to have you back, Uchiha-san. I hope you're well?"

He nodded. "I'm fine, Shizune-san. Although, when you have time, I think I would like to speak to you about my seal. You know, to see if there's any way to get rid of it." She seemed surprised. "I don't need it anymore, but it itches every now and again, like it wants to be used." His voice became quiet at that. It was true that he had no need for the seal anymore. He hadn't used it in over a year. But every now and again, he woke up in the middle of the night, the back of his neck feeling like an entire mound of red ants were biting into that one spot. It was a burning, stinging itch that he couldn't and wouldn't scratch. It usually only took about four hours for it to go away, but it might be nice if he didn't have to deal with it anymore.

She nodded. "I might get Tsunade-sama and Sakura-chan to help, though. Orochimaru might have made it so that it isn't easily removed. If I know his techniques at all, that is." Sasuke nodded gravely in agreement. The snake-Sannin was not one to let his future containers go without a fight. Right now, that fight was inside Sasuke's body, and he'd been winning for about a year. He just wished it was over. "We might need to get Anko in on it too. She was marked by him a long time ago, and her seal is dormant, now. Maybe they're related." Glancing at Sakura, she smiled warmly. "Take care of him, Sakura-chan." She murmured her farewells, and went down the stairs.

After another few minutes, Naruto came out, and said, "Sasuke, come on. I think I got the worst of it. She wants all three of us in there, now." Sakura gasped at him, because he had a bloody lip, and his shirt was ripped. He looked at Sakura, smiling then wincing. "Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan. She pulled her punches. I don't even think I'll need to go to the hospital, this time." Briefly, Sasuke wondered what had happened the last time Naruto had a conference with Tsunade. Then, they were in the Hokage's office, and he took a deep breath.

Lowering himself to the floor on one knee, he bowed his head, and placed his fist on the floor. "Hokage-sama,"

Tsunade snorted. "Get up, Uchiha. Sakura, close the door." Sasuke stood up as ordered, and looked around. Naruto leaned on the wall, nursing his wounds, and trying to get away from Sakura, who was trying to heal him. Suppressing a grin, he looked over at Tsunade. She raised an eyebrow at him, and pursed her lips. "Now, what should I do with _you_, Sasuke? I could have you thrown into Konoha Prison before you could blink. Give me one good reason why I should let you roam around free." Her expression was one of challenge, daring him to step out of line.

He smiled, not quite insolently, but approaching it. "I can give you two _extremely_ good reasons, Hokage-sama."

"And those are?" She sat on the front edge of her desk, seemingly relaxed. Sasuke knew better.

"I know the Sound Village inside and out, how they work, how they think, and I might be of some use against certain other enemies that threaten the general population, not just Konoha and the Fire Country." He crossed his arms over his chest, and waited for her reaction. She seemed to be weighing her options. It took what seemed like a very long time before she said anything more. During this eternal wait, Sasuke watched her. Her brown eyes seemed not to look at anything, and her brow furrowed, distorting the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead. She bit her lip in concentration, and tapped the surface of the desk with one of her fingers.

Suddenly, she smiled. "Alright. I think I know just what to do with you." Naruto, newly healed and sulking, turned to the Hokage, and Sakura did the same. The air seemed charged with electricity as she appeared to intentionally draw out the silence.

"Tsunade-baba, just tell us! You're going to give me a heart attack from the suspense!" Naruto piped up, and Sasuke had to get between the Hokage and his friend to keep him from being injured again. Closing her eyes and taking deep breaths, the woman steadied herself. It was apparent that this was a regular occurrence.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "You were saying, Tsunade-sama?"

"I was saying, Uchiha, that you'll be debriefed and participate in the next round of chuunin exams. Then, you'll work with Naruto and the rest of the ANBU with this Akatsuki problem." She smiled warmly at him. "Welcome back, Uchiha. I hope you like taking orders, because that's all you'll be doing for some time."

Sasuke again knelt before her. "Arigato, Tsunade-sama. When are the next exams?"

"Next week. I suggest you get your affairs in order. You'll be debriefed in the morning." She turned to Sakura. "Sakura, please fetch your old sensei for me."

The young woman frowned. "Any idea where to find him?" It was always hard to find Kakashi when you wanted him, but if you didn't need him, he seemed to pop up at the worst moments. Sasuke remembered the man always being late.

Naruto laughed. "He's probably down at the bookstore. The newest volume of Icha Icha Violence is out today. He'll want to get it before Anko does, so he can brag." Sakura nodded and left by way of the door. Sasuke nearly laughed. Anko was a very strange woman. She was loud, violent, and apparently perverted, too. He looked askance at Naruto. The blonde man waved him off. There would be lots of time to explain everything later. "Well, I have to go collect reports from my ANBU. I'll see you later, Sasuke." He disappeared out the window, and was gone.

Sasuke now stood alone with the Hokage. He sagged. "Tsunade-sama, thank you. I thought that I'd be in a cell right now."

"You might not want to thank me later. You're going to be taking orders from Naruto." He started, but then sighed. He'd do whatever he had to. If it meant killing Itachi and getting on with the rest of his life, he could take orders from Konohamaru if necessary. He nodded. Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You've changed a lot, Uchiha. For the better, I hope." She gestured to a chair, and he sat. For a little while, she grumbled over her papers, and didn't pay any attention to the fact that he was in the room at all. Then, a knock came at the door. "Come in!" She barked.

The door opened, and Kakashi poked his head in. "You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" He pushed the rest of his body in, not really seeming to recognize his former student, who sat in the chair, not really looking at him.

Tsunade hooked a thumb toward Sasuke, and said, "Take the prodigal son home for me, will you? I have a lot of work to do." Sasuke stood, a smile trying to gain a foothold on his face. Kakashi stared at him. He noticed that he stood an inch or two shorter than his former sensei, and nodded at him. The jounin's visible eye was unreadable, as usual.

"Sasuke-kun. Come on, let's go." Kakashi turned his back on Sasuke, and walked to the door. Sasuke looked back at the Hokage, who merely shrugged at him and made a shooing gesture at him to get him out of her office. _Well. That was unceremonious. _He walked out and closed the door quietly behind him. Kakashi was waiting. The man had been cold, and it didn't look like he was going to thaw any time soon. Sasuke walked warily next to him, and waited for him to speak.

It was fifteen minutes of hellishly awkward silence before Kakashi said in a voice that indicated his displeasure, "Why did you come back?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, thinking of how to explain the situation. "It was opportunistic, really. A chance meeting with old friends." His sensei snorted, but he continued in a tone that was rather far away. "I don't need Orochimaru anymore. I've known that for the past year. Now I'm not sure that I ever needed him. You were right, Kakashi-sensei." He looked over at the silver-haired man, and saw that his dark eye was widened in surprise.

"Learned a little humility while you were with the Sound, did you?" The older shinobi's voice sounded like he was trying not to laugh. Sasuke frowned. Kakashi changed the subject. "Have you seen anyone other than the Hokage, Sakura, and Naruto?"

"Ino. She tried to kill me. Poorly, I might add."

"Anger makes you sloppy. She's really mad at you." After scrubbing his fingers through his hair, Kakashi said, "Chouji was nearly killed when he fought with one of the Sound Four. She's never really forgotten that." When Sasuke opened his mouth to ask an obvious question, Kakashi smiled. "She's fiercely loyal to her teammates, Sasuke. Especially him. Talk to her. And you'll have to talk to the rest of them, too."

"How many people suffered because of me?" His voice was choked, and he clenched his hands into fists. The thought that he was the cause of the suffering of others was not welcome. He'd made a lot of people suffer when he lived with Orochimaru. He first thought that it was necessary to gain power, but soon started questioning his own actions. If he could avoid causing pain, he did. Even when he killed, he tried to make it so that no one suffered pain when they died by his hand.

"Chouji, Kiba, Akamaru, Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto. Those are the people directly affected. Oddly enough, none of them really hold grudges. It's their friends who do." He shook his head. "You should talk to them." Sasuke nodded. He would. He needed to. They would probably never really forgive him, but he needed to apologize.

"I'm taking the chuunin exam again." Sasuke said, in order to change the subject once again.

"Are you?" Kakashi smiled, his eye crinkling. "This should be interesting. Know who your team will be yet?" Sasuke shook his head. "Well, there's time for that. I'll be talking to the others, and seeing what to do. There's one team that lost a member, so you'll most likely be put with them."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Who's on the team?"

"Do you remember Konohamaru?" Sasuke nodded. "He and Moegi lost Udon on their last mission. They were on a C-ranked mission, and it shouldn't have happened. Kurenai's still pretty broken up about it. No one really knows what happened. One minute they're escorting a nobleman's wife, the next, Udon was dead, and Moegi would have been killed as well had it not been for Konohamaru. Kurenai took a hard hit too. She's still in the hospital." Kakashi's voice had taken a hard edge.

"So who was the target?"

Next to him, Kakashi made a grunting kind of sound. "Frankly, I don't think there was one. Probably just rogue nins. They've been playing havoc in the west, where their mission was. Tsunade-sama has sent ANBU over to investigate." Sasuke was having doubts as to whether Konohamaru would like it if he was on their team. When he voiced his concerns, Kakashi shook his head, saying, "He might not be given a choice, and you most likely won't be, either. So you'll just have to use the next week to get acquainted and try to learn each others' strengths and weaknesses, and learn to compensate."

"Are they any good?" Sasuke was hoping that they would work well together, and not get in each other's way.

"You should be familiar with the setup, Sasuke. Konohamaru could be Naruto's little brother for the way he acts. Moegi's decent, but she's pretty strange. So you're in the same boat you were in to begin with, only you don't have to deal with me." Sasuke smiled. This would certainly be interesting if it worked out the way Kakashi seemed to think it would. "In any event, you should know by tomorrow morning." They had now arrived at the entrance to the Uchiha compound. Kakashi nodded his farewell, and Sasuke watched him walk away, and as he pulled out a very conspicuous orange book.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay! He's back in Konoha. Now that he has to take the chuunin exams again, he'll have to deal with a few interesting problems. Then, theres still Orochimaru and Akatsuki lurking over the horizon...just waiting for an opportunity to strike. Heheehehehee. Suspense...or not. 


	3. New Team, New Dobe

**A/N:** Ok. I've had a good number of reviews. That's 8 in the past...less than 24 hours! I guess people like it when Sasuke isn't a total creep? Anyway. This chapter has a little bit of action in it, even though Sasuke isn't really involved, and I introduce a few more characters. There's a little bit of aggression, so there's some light swear-words, just like last chapter. There is, of course, OOCness (If you don't like it, don't read!).

**Legal Stuffiness:** Naruto isn't my property, at least it wasn't the last time I checked.

* * *

Last time… 

"You should be familiar with the setup, Sasuke. Konohamaru could be Naruto's little brother for the way he acts. Moegi's decent, but she's pretty strange. So you're in the same boat you were in to begin with, only you don't have to deal with me." Sasuke smiled. This would certainly be interesting if it worked out the way Kakashi seemed to think it would. "In any event, you should know by tomorrow morning." They had now arrived at the entrance to the Uchiha compound. Kakashi nodded his farewell, and Sasuke watched him walk away, as he pulled out a very conspicuous orange book.

* * *

**Time:** 4.5 years after Sasuke's departure 

**Place:** Konoha

* * *

Chapter 3: New Team, New Dobe

"How can you say that?" Ino's eyes flashed anger at Sakura. She was trying to break out of Chouji's grip to get at her friend, who sat across the table from her.

"Because I know him. He's not the same Sasuke. He's…different. Better, somehow." Sakura didn't know how to explain it. She couldn't, really. All she knew was that he was back, and he wasn't anywhere near as angry as he had been when he left. "He's going to come and talk to you later in the week. Can you _try_ to keep from ripping his head off?"

Ino settled down and grudgingly agreed. "Ok." Chouji smiled and squeezed her. "Hey, not so hard! You really need to work on that." Sakura looked at the two of them, and smiled. It was odd, but the two of them together somehow seemed natural. They sort of balanced one another. Ino helped him with his training, and with his diet, and Chouji had managed for the most part to calm her down. Chouji smiled cheekily at Ino, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oi. You two cut that out. You're giving me a headache." Shikamaru said as he sat down next to Sakura in the booth. He instantly unzipped his vest and gave his shoulders a shake, sighing. "This is going to be really troublesome. Chuunin exams are next week, and they want me to be an examiner." The rest of them erupted in laughter.

Sakura stopped laughing long enough to ask him which test he was going to be administering. "They want me to referee the final test and the preliminary matches." He dropped his head to the table, banging it once and then letting his face stay smashed against the wood. They could barely make out the words "ow" and "troublesome" before he pulled his head back up and let out the longest sigh any of them had ever heard. "Why did I let you guys talk me into taking the jounin exam?"

"The pay is better, Shikamaru." Ino teased. "And you can't tell me you don't like making strategies. You do it constantly." He conceded the point, but that didn't mean he was going to leave off his grumbling.

"So, Sakura," He said with his head leaning on the back of the booth, eyes closed, "I hear the Uchiha is back." Sakura nodded. "They'll most likely be teaming him up with Kurenai's team. Familiar setup, don't you think?"

Sakura nodded. It was going to be a strange team, just like when she was in with Sasuke and Naruto. He would only have a week to get to know them, too. "What are their chances?"

Shikamaru laughed. "With Uchiha on the team, their chances improve dramatically. If Konohamaru gets over himself, that is. You know how he can be." The boy was always chasing after Naruto, and calling him boss. "Basically, we know that Sasuke's a good leader. He's going to make sure the other two don't get hurt. I'm just doubting that they'll be able to keep up." Sakura agreed. Those two were going to have to deal with the fact that Sasuke was far more advanced than them, and Konohamaru had that stupid inferiority complex.

"Ok. Enough of that. We're just depressing Shikamaru. Let's order!" Ino said brightly. They did, and when the food came, the conversation turned to other things.

* * *

Sasuke stood in his living room. The place was really dusty. Flipping on the lights, it only looked worse. Sighing, he got to work. By around ten p.m., he had most of the place as dust-free as it was going to get for the moment. He brought a trashcan in, and held his breath as he emptied the refrigerator. Then he used a smaller version of his _Katon Gokakyu no jutsu _to sterilize the inside of it before wiping it down with a wet sponge. He was starving by this point, and there was no food in the entire house. Just when he was on his way to get his sandals to go to the only place he knew was open, he heard a knock at his door. 

Going to a window near the door, he peered out at the person at the door. He swallowed audibly. He was hoping to wait until tomorrow for this…Nevertheless, he went to the door. When he opened it, he found a young man standing on his doorstep looking both angry and nervous. Konohamaru bit his lower lip. "Uchiha-san?" The boy stood fiddling with his ever-present scarf, and said, "Can I talk to you?" Sasuke nodded, ushering the boy in.

"What can I do for you, Konohamaru-kun?" He said in a good-natured voice as he rolled up his sleeves to start washing the dishes in the sink, just to give himself an excuse not to look at the uncomfortable boy.

"I know that they're going to put you on my team for the exams," he looked at the floor as he spoke. For a moment, he seemed lost in thought. "I…I just wanted to say that we'll be glad to have you." Sasuke was genuinely surprised. It had obviously taken a lot for him to say that. He turned to the young man, water dripping from his hands, his eyes wide. "I heard Kakashi-sensei talking to Kurenai-sensei. I was hiding."

Sasuke smiled. "Are you hungry, Konohamaru?"

"Not really. I just came to tell you that."

"Oh. I was going to go see if I could get some ramen. I'm guessing it's the only place that's still open. I'd like it if you'd come with me, so that I can maybe find out a little about you and Moegi. That is her name, right?" Konohamaru nodded. He persisted in saying he wasn't hungry, but said that he would go with him anyway. Sasuke put the dishes to soak in the hottest water he could get out of the tap, and they left.

When they got to Ichiraku Ramen, the old man welcomed them. After Sasuke ordered a bowl of pork ramen, and Konohamaru a cup of tea, they sat down. Now that they were there, Sasuke said, "So, tell me about the team."

"Hm. Not much to tell. Moegi's really into taijutsu. She doesn't use genjutsu unless she has to, and her ninjutsu's pretty good. But she still needs to work on her chakra control. Me…I like to use different things. Depends on who I'm fighting. I'm decent with most stuff, though. There is one thing I know I'm really good at, though."

Sasuke's eyebrow rose. "What's that?"

Konohamaru smiled and formed a very familiar hand seal. "Sexy no jutsu!" Suddenly, where the boy had been sitting, there was a busty brunette wearing nothing but a cloud of steam. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on!" His voice came out very feminine, and he gave Sasuke a pouting look. After he released the jutsu, he looked sulky. "I thought it was pretty good."

Trying not to laugh, Sasuke said, "Yeah, that was pretty well done, but you have to realize that you can only use that against someone that you _know _is a pervert. That wouldn't work against me, or someone like Aburame Shino." The mention of the bug-wielding shinobi made Konohamaru's eyes widen. Shino's stoic attitude was well known. "Do you have any other special skills?"

"Not really, unless you count my concealment techniques." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Wanna see?"

"Sure." Sasuke popped his chopsticks apart, and took up a clump of noodles. Just as he put it in his mouth, he looked over at Konohamaru, and watched him simply fade away. "Not bad, Konohamaru." The boy released his jutsu, then showed him another technique that had him simply melt into the shadow of the building. That was more impressive. "Anything else?"

As he materialized on the barstool next to Sasuke, the boy said, "I can do a few other things, but I don't want to do those here. I did learn a few things from Naruto-niisan, too, like the—"

"_Kage bunshin_, right?" Sasuke smiled around another mouthful of noodles as Konohamaru nodded. "Can you use that on shiruken?" He shook his head. "That's a useful one. I could teach you and Moegi if you want." The boy was eager to learn, but he did have a tendency to mouth off, as Sasuke would find out the next day.

* * *

Sasuke rose early, before dawn. He dug through the attic and found some of Itachi's old clothes. After he washed them, he put them on and went to the training grounds. They still looked the same. When he got there, he smiled. There was a familiar sound coming from the far post. 

"Six hundred and thirty four! Six hundred and thirty five!" Each number was accompanied by a thud. "Six hundred and thirty six!" With a resounding crack, the post gave way and cracked down the middle, the pieces falling to the ground. The voice said, "Hm. That wasn't a very good piece of wood."

Sasuke walked over to where the voice was coming from. "Ohayo, Lee-san." The green-clad shinobi whirled around. His eyes widened.

"I had heard that you were back, Uchiha-san. Come to train?" Lee's eyebrows twitched. Sasuke nodded. Lee smiled widely. He still had his irrational exuberance. "Spar with me?" Sasuke only had to think for a fraction of a second.

"Sure." They instantly dropped into ready stances, and began circling one another. Sasuke moved first, aiming a kick at Lee's ribs. The other simply seemed to flow away from Sasuke's foot, depositing himself out of the way, and dropping back into his stance.

"Too slow, Uchiha-san."

Smiling slightly, Sasuke closed his eyes and relaxed himself completely, standing stock still. Then, he opened his eyes, and moved, using a technique he'd learned during his years with Orochimaru. The most famous user of this skill was the Yondaime, also called the "Yellow flash" of Konoha. Sasuke suddenly seemed to disappear, then reappear behind Lee, who was taken quite by surprise by Sasuke's fist connecting with the back of his head.

Lee tumbled to the ground, and Sasuke helped him up. "How was that, Lee-san?"

Lee's eyes widened. "How did you learn the body-flicker technique?"

"I've met a lot of interesting people since I left. Let's just leave it at that." Lee nodded. They sparred a bit more, neither one really gaining any ground on the other. After a while, Sasuke excused himself. "I have to be debriefed and then I have to meet with the team I'm assigned to for the chuunin exams." He waved goodbye to Lee, and walked off of the training grounds, listening to the other man start kicking another (hopefully stronger) post.

* * *

Neji sat with Kiba and Ten Ten in the interrogation room of the Hokage tower. Kiba was amusing himself by twirling his ANBU mask in his hands, and using the tip of his shoe to tickle Akamaru's chin. Ten Ten just sat on the other side of Neji playing with a kunai. He watched his fellow ANBU, trying to predict what their reactions would be when they saw their interrogation subject. They were told nothing of who they were to be debriefing. The only reason that Tsunade had told Neji was because he was their captain, and he had to come up with some kind of strategy for getting information out of a person if they got hostile. 

The door creaked open, and Neji rose to his feet. In the doorway stood Uchiha Sasuke. Ten Ten's expression was, for once, unreadable. Kiba seemed a bit stunned, as he just stood there, blinking. "Come in, Uchiha. And close the door." Neji gestured to a chair, and Sasuke sat. For the next six hours, Neji, Kiba, and Ten Ten got every scrap of information they could from him, while it was all recorded on video. They got not only the location of the Sound Village, but information about the internal workings of the organization as well as plans that Orochimaru had.

When they had finished, Neji leaned back in his chair. "Uchiha, I'm sure you already know this, but I was told to let you know that you'll be on Kurenai's genin team for the chuunin exams."

"I had an idea, yes. Thank you." Sasuke rose to leave, but stopped. "Neji, Kiba, I would like it if you two as well as Chouji and Shikamaru could come over to my house on Thurdsay night for dinner. I need to ask you about what happened when you fought the Sound Four." Neji's eyebrow rose. He was a tad surprised that the Uchiha even cared. Apparently he had attained more humanity while living with Orochimaru. If _that_ wasn't irony, he didn't know what was.

Kiba looked over at Neji, biting his lip with a decidedly fang-like canine tooth. The Hyuuga gave him an almost imperceptible nod, and Kiba said, "Sure. You better cook a lot if Chouji's coming." Neji smiled slightly. It would be an interesting night on Thursday.

* * *

Sasuke got out of the Hokage's tower at noon, when the village was out and about, eating lunch, getting their shopping done, and above all, gossiping. As he passed people in the street, whispers followed him. He was the primary topic of today's gossip chain, it seemed. 

Heading directly for the hospital, he went to see Kurenai. He needed to know how to deal with Konohamaru. He might seem like Naruto, but Sasuke thought he could sense a crucial difference. The woman at the desk told him where to find her room, and he went up to the third floor. He knocked on the door, and just as he was going to open it to peek in, Sakura pushed the door open instead. "Oh. It's you, Sasuke. Coming to visit?"

Nodding, he said, "I was coming to see Kurenai-sensei. I'm assigned to her genin team for the exams, and I thought she should know." The medic-nin smiled, and gestured for him to go right in. She was retreating down the hallway when he called after her. "Sakura?"

"Yes?" She turned back to look at him.

"Will you come to my house for dinner tonight?" He was trying not to sound desperate, but wasn't exactly sure that he succeeded. His calm expression was ruined by the slight blush that was creeping up his neck.

Holding back a smile, Sakura nodded and said, "Hai. I am done here at six. I'll try to be at your house by seven, ok?" He nodded, and turned back to the door. When he entered the room, he found the woman he'd come to see lying on her side in the bed, huddled in on herself and crying.

When she looked up at him, her eyes widened, and she tried to scramble out of her bed. "Itachi…" Her voice was a hoarse whisper. Sasuke blinked in surprise. Then he realized that he was wearing his brother's clothes, and that his hair was longer. She was also crying, so her eyes were probably clouded.

"No, Kurenai-sensei. I'm Sasuke." The woman blinked a few times, and the tears cleared from her vision. She seemed to calm down a bit. "Are you alright, Kurenai-sensei?" He handed her a tissue.

Wiping her eyes, she lay back against the pillows on the bed, wincing. "Thank you, Sasuke. I'm fine. It's just hard to lose a student. What did you come to see me about?" He explained the situation to her, and asked her about how to handle Konohamaru. She smiled sadly. "He acts silly on purpose, Sasuke. He's actually pretty intelligent. For the most part, when…when Udon was still alive, he would keep the boy in line. Now, I don't know what I'll do with him."

"What about the girl, Moegi?"

"Don't worry about her, Sasuke. She's a tough one. She just needs a little bit more confidence in herself when she's fighting anyone other than Konohamaru. Both she and Konohamaru have come up with some interesting jutsus on their own. He tends to experiment more than she does, though. Try to keep him from blowing himself up, ok?" After remaining silent for a long moment, Kurenai regarded him, concern in her red-rimmed eyes. "And how are you? Are you ready for the exams?"

Sasuke frowned. "I wasn't ready the first time. I don't think it will be any different now." He'd had to learn to be honest with himself about his own abilities over the last few years. One of the best ways to improve was to realize where your weaknesses were.

"Just take care of them." Her eyes had begun to close, and it was obvious she was falling asleep.

"I will. Sleep well, Kurenai-sensei." He slipped silently out of the room. On his way back to his house, he stopped by a few shops, buying food and some clothes. He really wasn't very happy that he'd been mistaken for his brother. The look in her eyes when she saw him would not leave his mind. _What did Itachi do to her?_ He might need to find out. That was just one more thing that he would have to make sure to think of while he was killing him.

When he got back to his house, arms full of bags and packages, he found Konohamaru and his teammate, Moegi, sitting on the front porch, looking supremely bored. When he approached, the boy stood. "Where've you been all day? We've been here for hours!" Then, under his breath, he said, "Teme…" Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, and his posture stiffened.

Sensing Sasuke's mood, Moegi took half of his bags, allowing him to take his keys from his pocket. When he opened the door, they all trooped inside, Sasuke and Moegi carrying the bags, and Konohamaru slinking behind them, grumbling. Once everything had been dumped on the table, Sasuke looked down at the other two and said, "I was being debriefed, and on my way back, I got some food and clothes." He turned to Konohamaru and said with a smirk, "Sorry to keep you waiting, chibi-dobe."

"Don't call me chibi! And I'm not a dobe, either!" The boy was tugging at his ever-present scarf, an indication of how agitated he was. Sasuke wondered at the change in the young man's attitude from the night before. He'd been civil, and hadn't really acted like a complete moron, like he seemed to right now. The kid was also being really lazy, and hadn't offered to help them carry anything. In fact, Sasuke was wondering who he was more like, Naruto or Shikamaru.

Moegi's face darkened. She turned to Konohamaru and picked up a package of tofu. Before she could smash it over his head, Sasuke snatched it from her, and put it in the refrigerator. She seemed determined to hit the boy, however, and substituted her hand for the tofu. With a resounding _smack!_ Konohamaru's head jerked forward, and he let out a quick "Oof!" before falling to the floor. Sasuke bit his lip to keep himself from laughing.

The girl crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at Konohamaru. "Now. Are you going to stop mouthing off, or do I _really_ need to hurt you?" The boy was picking himself up off of the floor and grumbling when she looked over at Sasuke. "I heard the news from Konohamaru-kun. He says you're going to be on our team for the exams. Is that true?" Sasuke nodded. She seemed to think for a minute. "So when do we train?"

Sasuke looked at the clock on the wall, which he'd set the previous night. It was currently nearly five. There wasn't time to train that night. He had an idea, though. "Well, we have almost a week. I was thinking that you two could get some things together tonight, then come over tomorrow so that we can spend the week here, training. How does that sound?" Moegi considered for a moment, then nodded. Konohamaru narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"How do I know we can trust you?" The boy's voice came out sounding spiteful. Moegi's face turned red.

She grabbed him by the ear, and started pulling him to the door. "Gomen, Sasuke-san. He's a dobe, alright. Now, we'll see you tomorrow morning. _Won't we,_ Konohamaru?" The boys neck was bent at an uncomfortable angle, and Sasuke didn't envy him that postion.

"Hai, Hai. Itai! Get off me, baka!" His eyes were squeezed shut, and he was shaking with anger. _That kid has got some issues to work out. Maybe I should kick his ass. It might calm him down._ Sasuke smiled broadly and waved to them as they left. Moegi pulled Konohamaru into the street, and Sasuke watched as he yanked himself away from her, and made about six clones to try to get his revenge.

Moegi laughed out loud. "Come on, dumb ass! You want me to beat you down again?"

"WE'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!" All of the Konohamarus said at once. Sasuke leaned against the doorway. The deserted street of the Uchiha compound was going to get quite a show. The clones rushed at the girl before them, and Sasuke watched as Moegi performed a series of fluid motions. From a holster on her right thigh, she drew a small scroll. She bit her thumb and unrolled the scroll, smearing a line of blood onto it.

As Moegi shook the scroll over the ground in front of her, hundreds of caltrops tumbled from it, their points glinting in the sun. All this, she did in a matter of seconds. As the clones stepped on the caltrops, Moegi performed a hand seal that Sasuke wasn't familiar with. The small, sharp metal pyramids burst into flames, catching the clones on fire, and they all disappeared in puffs of smoke. She then performed a series of seals he _did_ recognize. Sasuke laughed as she disappeared behind the smoke from the caltrops, then watched as a pair of hands popped up out of the ground and grabbed Konohamaru's legs.

The boy was yanked firmly into the ground up to his chin, and as he struggled and cursed to get out, Moegi's head and shoulders popped up out of the ground in front of him. Leaning her chin on one of her hands, she shook her head at him. "That's five times I've won, Konohamaru. You're down by two, now." Laughing, she pulled herself up, and then tugged at her teammate until he was out of the ground. He seemed subdued now, but he glared at Moegi.

"I thought you didn't know that jutsu, carrot-top." Sasuke heard him say as the two of them walked slowly down the street. Sasuke frowned. _Nope. I don't think I need to even try to kick his ass. She's got him well in hand._ That was pretty true. However, the first thing he was going to have them do in the morning was fix the holes in the street, and Moegi had to get rid of those caltrops. Sighing, he went inside to put away the rest of the things he'd bought while shopping.

* * *

**A/N:** Ano...so what did you think? Konohamaru is a little odd. He acts differently when Moegi's around. Why do you think that is? And hurray! Everyone's favorite lazy ninja will be the referee for the final round of the chuunin exams! 


	4. Blood Oath

**A/N:** Well. The semester's started now, and I'll most likely have to slow this one down (the rapidity of the chapters, that is). For this Chapter, I want to make a slight apology. One of my reviewers was polite enough to point out that Sasuke used one of the techniques the Yondaime was famous for. This is true. I apologize if it seemed a little strange. My main reason for doing that was to show that Sasuke learned a lot while he was away. He learned a lot from Orochimaru, and others at the Sound Village. So, I apologize. It is a little off, I know.

I also want to say that in this chapter, you get to see one of the jutsus Sasuke learned from Orochimaru (those only come out when he really needs them, or he's really mad. If I say any more, I'll give away a bit that's coming in a later chapter). Sasuke gets a bit more time with Sakura in this chapter, during which there's OOCness, but later you get his wonderful rivalry with Naruto again. Other warnings besides OOC? Language. It gets a little worse, but not much. Blame Kabuto. Oh, I made up a character for Naruto's ANBU team. As far as I know, Sarutobi Hanmaru isn't canon Naruto. I was running out of names, and I really didn't feel like having Izumo as an ANBU.

**Legal Stuffiness:** I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be in Grad School and reeeeeally in debt.

* * *

Last time... 

The boy was yanked firmly into the ground up to his chin, and as he struggled and cursed to get out, Moegi's head and shoulders popped up out of the ground in front of him. Leaning her chin on one of her hands, she shook her head at him. "That's five times I've won, Konohamaru. You're down by two, now." Laughing, she pulled herself up, and then tugged at her teammate until he was out of the ground. He seemed subdued now, but he glared at Moegi.

"I thought you didn't know that jutsu, carrot-top." Sasuke heard him say as the two of them walked slowly down the street. Sasuke frowned. _Nope. I don't think I need to even try to kick his ass. She's got him well in hand._ That was pretty true. However, the first thing he was going to have them do in the morning was fix the holes in the street, and Moegi had to get rid of those caltrops. Sighing, he went inside to put away the rest of the things he'd bought while shopping.

* * *

**Time:** 4.5 years after Sasuke's departure 

**Place:** Konoha

* * *

Chapter 4: Blood Oath 

Sakura walked through the streets, on her way to Sasuke's house. Other people were about, going to dinner at various restaurants, doing last-minute shopping for things before the shops closed, and most of all, they were gossiping. _Don't they ever stop?_ They were all blabbing about how Sasuke was back. He'd been sighted at the hospital, a few shops, and rumors were flying about everything from him being the next Hokage to who people thought he was going to marry. Sakura had to try really hard not to roll her eyes at that.

One crazy woman had said something as she passed by a fruit stand about Sasuke being secretly in love with Naruto. Sakura stopped for a moment in a nearby alleyway, laughing so hard that she began to choke.

When she entered the Uchiha compound, she was once again struck by how dark and quiet it was. There was only one house that had any lights on, and she walked slowly toward it. When she drew near, she found that there were holes in the ground, as well as a large number of…caltrops. Suddenly fearful, Sakura drew a kunai. She didn't knock when she entered the house, moving silently and masking her chakra. Was someone there, trying to harm Sasuke? Had they taken him?

There were no other signs of violence in the house that she saw. Glancing at her watch, she noted the time. It was a quarter until seven, and she was early. That didn't matter much at the moment. When she came to the kitchen door, she heard movement. Inching along the wall until she could peek inside, she found Sasuke, safe and sound. He was bustling around the kitchen, making last minute adjustments to whatever he was cooking, which smelled wonderful. But there was a slight problem…he was hurrying around the kitchen wearing nothing but a fuzzy white towel.

Giving herself a moment to recover from the blush that was threatening to take over her face, she composed herself and gave a small cough. Sasuke turned around, his long hair swinging into his face, and he hurriedly pushed it behind one of his ears. His eyes widened, but only slightly. "Gomen, Sasuke. I'm early. I would have knocked, but I saw all the stuff out front, and I got worried." She sheathed her kunai, and snapped the holster shut, then pulled the hem of her dark blue dress back over it. He turned back to the stove for a moment, reducing the fire under the largest pot, and turning the other burners off.

"Sumimasen, Sakura. I'll go get dressed." He gripped the towel as he passed her, and walked down the hallway. Was it her imagination, or did he look flustered? Sakura smiled, and walked over to the stove. There was a pot of what looked to be yaki udon, and another that smelled like miso soup. If it tasted as good as it smelled, she'd probably eat way too much. Moving away from the stove, she sat at the table.

A few moments later, Sasuke came back in, dressed in a dark gray casual kimono, his hair pulled back behind his head in a braid. He smiled at her and moved to check the food. "Do you need any help, Sasuke?" She asked, and he said that he didn't. He took down a large bowl, and a ladle, then filled it with the soup. Disappearing from the room, he came back empty-handed. Then, he plated the udon, and disappeared once again. When he came back, he took her by the hand, and led her down the hallway. At the very end, there was a door, and through that door, a formal dining room.

The food was set on a low, black lacquered table, a small vase of clumsily arranged flowers sitting in the middle of everything. Sasuke lit a lantern overhead, and they sat down.

* * *

Sasuke reached for the ladle to serve the soup, but Sakura brushed his hands away from it. She took up his bowl and gracefully spooned soup into it, and placed it before him. Then, she served herself. They ate silently, and he looked up at her every now and again, watching her. She seemed to enjoy it. He was relieved. It had been a long time since he had cooked anything. The udon was a little too chewy for his taste, but she said she liked it that way. He hoped that she wasn't trying to humor him, but even if she was, it didn't matter that much. 

After they were finished eating, they went for a walk. There was a lovely hill that was frequented by lay-abouts like Shikamaru for watching the clouds go by, and that's where they went. It was also nice to sit there and watch the stars. They sat down in the grass, and Sakura breathed a sigh of contentment. Sasuke looked over at her. She was watching the stars, tiny pinpoints of light reflected in her eyes.

Feeling at ease, he lay down in the grass. After a moment, Sakura lay down next to him, and they stared up at the blackness above, not saying anything, and not really needing to. When he'd been in the Sound Village, he'd been in darkness constantly. The hallways were lit only by the occasional torch, and his room held only candles for light and warmth. He'd come to hate the darkness. It only made him feel more alone. Now, however, it was completely different. He was in the dark, but he was not alone. He could feel Sakura next to him, even though they weren't touching at all. It was like a warmth that he could feel even in the depths of his mind.

His reverie was interrupted suddenly by the feeling of being watched. This was another thing he'd become highly aware of during his time in the Sound Village. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he sat bolt upright. "Sakura, take cover." Pushing himself to his feet, he looked around warily.

Sakura stood next to him, drawing a kunai. "I'm not going anywhere, Sasuke. Besides, there's nowhere _to_ take cover. We're on open ground." He snorted. Lowering her voice, she asked, "So, where are they?"

"Good question." He could feel himself being watched; he knew they were there, he juxt didn't know where, or how many. There was one sure-fire way of finding out, though. "Follow me, and stay close." He ran back toward his house, and he could still feel the presence of whoever it was, watching, waiting, but now, he felt as if it was drawing nearer, from the west. "There's only one, but I think they're pretty strong." His mouth compressed into a thin line, and he activated the Sharingan, scanning the area to the west.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "It's Kabuto. That bastard." He stopped, turning, and placed himself between the approaching nin and Sakura. Bringing his thumb up to his mouth, he bit the end of it, causing it to bleed. His hands flew through seals as he summoned six large snakes and sent them toward the man who rushed toward them. He heard Sakura gasp behind him. "Hn." He grunted as he watched the snakes advance on Kabuto, who was merely slowed down by them. The snakes were killed and disappeared, and Sasuke sighed.

"Do you have any shiruken, Sakura?" She tapped him on the shoulder, and handed him two of her shiruken, keeping a few for herself. He threw both of them, and formed a familiar hand seal, muttering, "_Shiruken Kage Bunshin no jutsu._" The two became more than a hundred, and they swarmed over Kabuto, but few of them actually hit him. He still approached them, more slowly now, pulling the sharp missiles from various parts of his body.

"Sasuke-sama, you must come with me." The medic-nin said, smiling.

"I don't think so, Kabuto. You'll have to go back empty-handed, or not at all." Sasuke was surprised to hear Sakura's voice take on such a tone as she stepped around him. "Which will it be?" She stood casually in front of Sasuke, her arms crossed under her breasts, her head tilted to one side, waiting for an answer.

"I don't have time to play with you, little girl." Kabuto pushed up his glasses and frowned at her.

The pink-haired kunoichi reached into her pocket, pulling out a pair of black gloves, all the while muttering something about being called a little girl. Putting on her gloves, she flexed her hands. "Alright, yaro. Come on." Sasuke's shock lasted only long enough for him to watch Kabuto running at Sakura. He moved back and to the right, so that he wouldn't be in the path of anything thrown, be it a kunai, or a jutsu. Sakura's fist connected with the middle of Kabuto's chest, and Sasuke heard bones snapping. The man crumpled to the ground, but Sakura did not stop there.

Forming seals Sasuke recognized only as a medical jutsu, she placed her hands on his neck. When the chakra from her hands had sunk into Kabuto's flesh, she stood up and brushed her hands together. "Well. I thought better of you than that, Kabuto-kun. That was too easy."

The silver-haired man was glaring up at her, and said, "You bitch! You can't do this to me!"

Putting her hands on her hips, the woman leaned down, and said, "I can. And I just did. That should teach you to call me little." Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Pick him up, will you? We're going to see Tsunade-sama." Sasuke eyed the man warily. "Don't worry. I paralyzed him. He's not moving until that jutsu is removed."

"Really?" Sasuke asked, a thought rising in his mind that made his tone darken. Sakura nodded. "Wait just a minute, will you?" She raised a slim eyebrow at him, questioningly. He smiled, looking for all the world like Naruto. Turning to the man who lay prone on the ground, he punched him hard in the jaw, causing Kabuto's head to snap to the left. "Now I feel much better." He picked the man up off of the ground, and he was like dead weight.

* * *

"So, why are you bothering me during my dinner?" Tsunade wiped her lips with a napkin, looking to Sakura, who was standing in the door of the office. There was an almost giddy smile on her face, which was not something that happened often. She watched as the girl poked her head back out of the door and then as Uchiha Sasuke walked in, a body slung over his shoulder. The body was then dumped onto the floor. 

"Yakushi Kabuto? You killed him?" Tsunade's mouth hung open.

"No. I didn't kill him, Hokage-sama." Sakura frowned. "He's just paralyzed from the neck down. That's all I did."

The Sound-nin glared around at the three of them. Tsunade looked down at him, walking around her desk. "Oi, baka. So what are you doing here?" She was trying very hard not to laugh. The second-in-command of the Sound lay on the floor in front of her, all that wonderful information in his head. He clammed up tightly. "That's alright, boy. We'll see how you hold up against my ANBU." She pressed a small button on the underside of her desk, calling for the nearest ANBU captain. In a matter of seconds, three masked ANBU appeared, and she gestured to the man on the floor. The leader, a man in a panther mask, looked down at Kabuto.

"What do you want us to do with him, Tsunade-sama?"

"I want you to take him to the interrogation room and find out what the hell he's doing here. Anything else relating to that, including Orochimaru's current location, would also be appreciated." The other two ANBU picked the man up off of the floor, and began carrying him out. "Oh, and Neji," the panther-masked man cocked his head slightly to one side. "You might want to find Kakashi. He's been itching to have a little chat with our guest." When they had removed Kabuto, Tsunade sat back down at her desk. "Well, Uchiha, did he say anything before Sakura pummeled him?"

"Only that I was supposed to come with him."

"He called me a little girl, Tsunade-sama." Sakura's brow was furrowed in a frown.

Tsunade smiled. There wasn't much that would make Sakura angry enough to hit someone with all of her considerable strength, but that was one of the things that would. She sighed. "Alright. You two go home. Sasuke, I'm assigning ANBU to guard you."

"Hokage-sama—" He began to protest.

"No, Uchiha. You're not going to get kidnapped if I have anything to say about it. Now get the hell out of my office and let me finish my dinner." That ended any discussion, and Sakura tugged at Sasuke's arm, pulling him out of the room.

* * *

Naruto took the scroll from the messenger, and nodded. _A mission, this soon after getting back?_ Something must be really important, or Tsunade wouldn't have assigned it to him this soon. Unrolling it, he read it and his eyes widened. _Can't that teme take care of himself?_ Naruto groaned. His team was assigned to guard the Uchiha compound, which was alright with him, as long as things didn't get too ugly. Apparently, Kabuto attacked Sasuke and Sakura, and was now in custody. "That's one good thing. At least now we only have that snake-bastard to deal with." His thoughts only darkened from there, however. 

Walking back inside his apartment, he locked the door, and went to his kitchen table. Placing the scroll on the large metal tray in the middle, he struck a match and lit it on fire. This was what he did with all of his orders after receiving them, just in case. It wasn't standard practice, but he'd learned that he couldn't be too careful. He wasn't sure if guarding Sasuke was going to be of any help, though. Trouble usually found him, without him really needing to look for it. _Well, I was wondering when the bad stuff would start. Looks like it has. Damn, that was fast._

Now that he knew his orders, he changed again into his ANBU uniform, then slipped on his mask and headed out of the door to gather his team. It only took about five minutes to get to the first man's apartment, but nearly ten to get him to come to the door. "Damn you, Kotetsu! Get up!" The spiky-haired man took forever to wake up, which Naruto had always found strange. He refused to break into the man's apartment, though. Naruto knew full well the kinds of booby-traps Kotetsu had set up. When he came to the door, Naruto pushed his way into the apartment. It was immaculately clean, as always. "We have orders, baka. Get dressed and meet me at the usual place." After a yawning nod from Kotetsu, he left and ran across the village to get the other member of his team.

Before he could even knock, Sarutobi Hanmaru opened the door and silently motioned for him to come in. He was a gittery little man, even though he was Asuma's younger cousin. How he could be related to the extremely laid-back cigarette-smoking jounin, Naruto could never understand. Hanmaru's eyes scanned the hallway of his apartment building, then he closed the door. "Do we have orders, senpai?" Naruto nodded. The man was so nervous, it was a wonder that he got the job done.

"Hai. Take a chill pill, then meet us at the bridge. You have fifteen minutes." He was sure that Hanmaru would be there no later than the fifteen minute mark, but probably five minutes earlier. Even though he was a nut-job, he was compulsively punctual. _Probably just another sign of how nuts he really is._ The man nodded and then pushed Naruto out of his apartment. Frowning, Naruto walked out of the building, and then made his way to the bridge. When he got there, he found Kotetsu leaning lazily on the railing, adjusting his gloves.

The monkey-masked man looked over at him. "Yo. So, how long did you give Hanmaru this time?" It had become a little bit of a game between him and Kotetsu to see how fast Hanmaru could be ready. So far, they'd tried various time limits, from thirty to ten minutes, and the man always seemed to make it to the appointed meeting place five minutes early.

"Fifteen."

"Not even a challenge, senpai. He'll be here. Now, give him seven, and then we'll have some entertainment!" Naruto rolled his eyes behind his fox mask. The other man had a vicious sense of humor. "So, how long do we have left?"

Smiling, the ANBU captain said, "Three minutes. You want to put money on it? He was in his boxers when he opened the door." The other man shook his head. There was little doubt in Naruto's mind either that the man would actually be there on time, but it was always fun to take it on chance that he might slip up. Sure enough, Two minutes and twenty seconds later, Hanmaru appeared next to Kotetsu, adjusting his hawk mask.

"Senpai."

"Good. Now that you're here, I'll let you in on our orders." Naruto leaned against the opposite railing, facing his ANBU. "We've been assigned a babysitting job, boys." The two men groaned. "Now, don't get your shorts in a knot. It might not be as boring as you think. We're guarding Uchiha Sasuke. There's already been one attack on him, and we're going to be there to make sure that there aren't any more until the second part of the chuunin exams. You know as well as I do that all bets are off once they're inside the Forest of Death." The others nodded. "Now, let's get going."

* * *

It was midnight when Sasuke returned to his house after escorting Sakura home. He found three ANBU in his living room waiting for him, and he rolled his eyes. "Don't you people have anything better to do than babysitting me?" 

The captain pulled off his mask. Sasuke was surprised to see Naruto. The blonde man scratched the back of his head. "Well, teme, we don't really have that much of a choice. Me and the boys here are gonna be sticking to you like glue until the second part of the exams, so you just gotta get used to it." His friend smiled broadly.

Sasuke sighed. Naruto looked to the other two ANBU, and said, "You guys go check the perimeter. I have some things to discuss with Sasuke."

"Hai." Both men said at once, and disappeared out the window.

Before he knew what was happening, Sasuke was thrown against the wall, Naruto's katana drawn and pressed against his throat. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked the man, whose eyes were full of some unreadable emotion.

"You put Sakura-chan in danger, teme. I'll never forgive you for that." The razor-sharp edge pressed more tightly against his throat. Sasuke's eyes blazed black fire at Naruto. He couldn't believe this. He had thought of nothing but protecting her, and now this? Crimson seeped into his eyes, and a small muscle at the left side of his mouth twitched. With one hand, he grasped the blade of the katana, and the other, Naruto's throat.

Pushing steadily with both hands, he felt the warmth of blood running down his left hand where the blade of Naruto's sword was biting into it, and felt the other man's blood pulsing under his right hand, below the skin. He growled at Naruto, "Damn you, dobe. The only thing I did was try to protect her. _She_ took matters into her own hands. _She _attacked Kabuto. _She _broke at least six of his ribs and probably his sternum, too. And it was _damned_ well her that paralyzed him. All _I_ could do was slow him down. You, of all people, should know fighting with him at close quarters is useless. It takes a medic-nin to take one down. I couldn't have stopped her even if I'd tried."

The entire time he'd been speaking, he was still pushing Naruto, who was sliding steadily across the slick wooden floor. Sasuke began to squeeze the other man's throat, fingers closing around his trachea. Blue eyes widened in pain, but continued to burn into Sasuke's. Naruto's anger radiated off of him. The dark-haired man suddenly came to a realization. "Who are you more angry at, dobe? Me, or you? You weren't there. There's no way that you could have done anything to protect her. So don't take your anger out on me, just because I _was_ there." As if confirming his suspicions, Naruto's brow furrowed, and he looked quickly away from the Uchiha.

The ANBU's shoulders sagged, and he stopped pushing against Sasuke. The Uchiha released his throat. "I told her…" Naruto whispered, almost as if to himself, "I told her a long time ago. I said that I'd never let anything happen to her." He lowered his weapon, but Sasuke's other hand remained gripping the blade tightly.

"Naruto…" Sasuke said, looking him straight in the eyes. "You can't protect her all of the time. Neither can I. Sakura has become a very powerful shinobi. We have to trust her enough to take care of herself." Again, Naruto looked away from him. Sasuke removed his bloodied hand from the blade of the katana. Taking the weapon in his other hand, he grasped Naruto's arm. Making a light gash in the man's palm, Sasuke lowered the weapon and clasped their red-streaked hands. "Understand this, Naruto. You and Sakura are the two most important people in the world to me. Until my last breath, I will protect her. And you, brother." It wasn't much, but Sasuke gave him his word, which was all he could give him.

Naruto's eyes widened so that they seemed as if they would fall out. He bit his lip for a moment, a multitude of emotions battling for dominance in his eyes. Then, choking back the emotion in his voice, he said, "By my blood and yours, until my last breath…brother." That last was almost inaudible as Naruto struggled with himself, trying as hard as he could not to let tears that threatened to fall do just that. Finally, the two embraced one another. Naruto pulled away from Sasuke, and looked down at their hands. Sasuke also peered at their clasped hands.

"Let's wash this off." Sasuke's voice was gruff with his own emotion.

"Hold on." Naruto took hold of his hand.

"Wha—" Sasuke started as green chakra gathered around Naruto's hand in a healing jutsu. He could feel the flesh knitting back together. When Naruto removed his hand, Sasuke flexed his hand. It worked perfectly. He was sure he'd nearly severed one of his tendons… "You know medical jutsus?"

"ANBU captains are required to know some basic medical jutsus. I had a great teacher." Naruto smiled faintly, not looking at his friend. In his own way, Naruto's actions spoke of his relinquishment of any claim he may have wished to have on Sakura. Sasuke wondered if Naruto would ever really get over her. The look in the man's eyes said he might not.

* * *

**A/N:** Caltrops are, if you need a better image, little metal pyramids that have reeeeeally sharp edges on them. They're used to slow down people on foot. In this chapter, I use a few words that some of my friends have aske me about, so I thought I should put a note, just in case. Yaro: basically means punk. I'm not sure of the literal translation. Senpai: a term used for a person who holds seniority. I probably should have used Taicho, which means captain, but since it's referring to Naruto, and everyone who uses it is pretty familiar with him, I used senpai. Sumimasen: basically, means "excuse me" or "pardon me." This comes up a lot in conversations, I find. It's used not only in the usual way, but also to get people's attention. Here, I just use it to say "excuse me." 


	5. AN and! Interlude: Uchiha Demons

**FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY! ((and a special treat, so read all the way through.))  
**

**A/N**: Duck and cover, kids—the **_Sasuke Flame War_** has begun, and I don't mean his _Katon Gokakyu no jutsu_. I know I shouldn't get upset over it. I like constructive criticism, like when **Goyana** let me know about Sasuke using one of the Yondaime's moves. That's fine. I have no problem with that.

However, one anonymous reviewer(**Jaques Rico**) has now accused me of being a Sasuke fangirl, and that I've turned him into a "sexy, lovable uberninja." Here's the review:

**Sasuke and the Body Flicker, huh? Probably learnt during one of his weekend seminars with Orochimaru and Kabuto. Maybe he got his OOCness also there. Although he isnt the only one suffering from that.  
Anyway, I stop reading here. The story telling isnt bad but I really dislike it when Sasuke-Fangirls have to make him into a sexy, lovable uberninja, and i can tell that its only going to get worse from here on.  
**

Geesh. This one's easier to refute than the next one…Well. Sasuke's already a super-ninja. Now, to make him loveable, that's quite a feat, and maybe I've managed to do that here, but I think a bit of his personality (mostly his dispair) actually does come through. As to him being sexy…-snorting laugh- Sorry. I have done nothing but make him taller, with longer hair, and add 4.5 years to his age. He doesn't _act_ sexy, that's for sure. So if he came off as sexy, I didn't mean him to so um, I'm sorry? Jaques Rico stopped reading after chapter 3.

* * *

I got another one last night. This person said they "cringed" at Sasuke's character. The review: 

**I know you said Sasuke was going to be OOC, and I tried to keep an open mind, but I could only make it to chapter two. I'm sorry, but it's just too much, I was constantly cringing at his character.  
Other than that, it was still nice to see a story with good grammar and spelling.** ---Oh, what a compliment. I feel much better now.

Oh, joy. I've gone and upset my fellow Sasuke-bashers again. Darn. Now, this person couldn't take it after chapter 2. So that just leads me to believe that they're a dyed-in-the-wool Sasuke basher, and they can't stand it if anyone ever makes him into a decent human being. Really, that's all I've done here. If there's a problem with it…I would like it if people would tell me _what it is they don't like!_ Dangitall, if there's an aspect of someone's character you don't particularly like, let me freaking-well know. It's probably the whole middle-child wish for acceptance doing this in my head, but it does hurt when someone says they're gonna stop reading. So, I think maybe I need to do one of two things: 1. Suck it up and keep writing the way I want to 2. Act like a total pansy and let it really bother me to the point where I can't function in the real world.

* * *

Which one do you think I'm gonna pick? The first option, of course. I can't afford to lose sleep over these people. It's difficult, not knowing what people don't like, but really…I can't please everyone, right? For now, I'm editing chapter 5, and then I'll start on chapter 6 later in the week once I've done my schoolwork.

* * *

So, just to avoid the "no author's notes only" rule, I've decided to have a special treat for those of you who really do appreciate my story, don't think I'm a fangirl (a _**Sasuke fangirl**_, no less), and don't have a problem with Sasuke being a decent person every now and again. If you want to know, it takes place the night of Chapter 4, when he finally got to sleep. 

Interlude: Uchiha Demons

Low moaning was heard in the Uchiha main house, as Sasuke slept. These pitiful sounds came from the mouth of the sole Uchiha remaining in Konoha. He was lying in bed, light perspiration breaking out over his body. Muscles tensed as he turned in his sleep, as he was here in body only. Sasuke's mind and spirit were miles away, in a deep forest. He saw himself, as he was. He found his mind rebelling as he saw himself activate the curse that marked him.

Undulating black markings spread over his neck, back, his chest, and face. The seal invaded his body with a power that was both intoxicating and frightening. The terror that he felt back then, though it was not recognized as such, had been far from his mind. He focused all of his energy, chakra, and overwhelming hatred on the man before him. Though he knew that Kabuto had only used the _Henge no Jutsu_, he saw his brother before him. It was Itachi. That bastard was standing there. He was standing there, and smiling.

The old hate bubbled up inside him, overflowing all of his senses, blotting out every other emotion. He cared for nothing in the world. Nothing. There was not a damned thing that mattered other than this man's death. His heart had begun to pound in his chest, even his vision pulsing now, his excitement over seeing the black-clad man before him was so great. He could smell blood. That was a sweet, heady scent, which drove him close to the brink of madness. He could feel the mark on his neck burning, as if it were urging him to do what he itched and longed to.

With a sudden and ear-splitting cry, Sasuke launched himself at what he could only wish was his brother. The snarl on his lips after that deafening sound made his current self shudder. _I want to avenge my family…_His dream-fogged thoughts came slowly, hesitantly, as he watched the Sasuke of three years prior go toe-to-toe with a disguised Kabuto. Fists and feet flew, and chakra exploded in jutsus from both the cloaked figure, and Sasuke. _Why? Why do I feel these things? Hate. Fear. Anger. They are useless. _Kakashi's words rang through his mind.

_"Anger makes you sloppy…" _

That was true. Back before he'd left the village, he'd gone to save Naruto from his brother, when the Akatsuki were attempting to gain the Kyuubi for themselves. He'd attacked Itachi, all of the hatred and anger that had stayed inside him for so long being unleashed when he felt the tenketsu of his arm flood with chakra. His _Chidori_ had been turned easily aside. This could only mean one thing.

_"Anger makes you sloppy…"_

If he were to truly avenge his clan, to take a step toward righting the wrongs that were done that dreadful night, he must not become more like his brother than he already had. Itachi had thrown him against the wall, bringing his face so close to his own that they could have brushed their noses against one another. He had said something that chilled him.

_"You don't have enough hatred..."_

Why had he listened? Why had he let himself be goaded into becoming nearly the same monster that Itachi had become? Was there some motive behind his brother's actions, other than a psychotic need to shed the blood of those who cared for him most? He had been his brother, his Aniki. What was he now? Was he a demon? A killer, certainly. A genius, without a doubt. But what was he really?

Dreams are often the threshold of revelation. Now, in this dream that he knew to be a dream, Sasuke looked on his former self with utmost pity. The rage that tempered the actions of the young man before him was like a knife in his heart. His brother…the image of the fight before him faded away. More painful sights followed.

There was a much younger version of himself, being carried on the back of his beloved Aniki. Itachi had a very small smile on his lips. It was then that Sasuke felt something he hadn't for a long time. He felt it deep inside himself, weak though it may be…a small seed of something he had pushed from himself, trying to rid himself of any attachment to his demon of a brother. It was something akin to affection. How it was still there, he knew not. But it was there.

This image faded as well, replaced by that of his brother standing over him, holding a blood-soaked katana. The _Mangekyo Sharingan_ bore into his small form, paralyzing him. Those words he would remember always echoed through the room where his parents died…

_"If you wish to kill me, hate me..."_

He _wanted_ to be hated. He wanted Sasuke to hate him, to grow stronger, to become like him. It seemed that his brother wanted to see which of them were truly stronger. Or did he? Did he, in his twisted mind, want to face off against Sasuke? Did he want to murder the one person who had idolized him for who he was, as only a younger brother could? Sasuke could feel himself sliding into some kind of dark realization.

_There are some people who should not be as strong as they are. He is a pitiful creature. Because he knew none of the others could…He has killed them all, so that I could one day take from the world the person who never should have been._

His body was twisted in the sheets of the bed, his face contorted in a mask of pain. As his eyes slowly opened, the image of his brother still stung at his eyes. Could there be no other way? The laws of his clan said that he must avenge his family. His pride…what of his pride? The last of the acknowledged Uchihas stared at the after-image of his dream. A black coat, with red clouds scattered over it…just like in the world of the _Mangekyo Sharingan_.

Why was he suddenly afraid? _No. Clear your mind. A blank canvas…peaceful. _He breathed deeply. That small seed was beginning to sprout in his mind, and he didn't have the will to crush it. Hate, fear, anger…they were not what would allow him to set right the balance. He _would_ kill his brother. But when he finally did, he would look his Aniki in the eyes, and take his life, with the love of a brother.

* * *

Endnote: My first interlude...for Sam. This came to me the other day while visiting my best friend, Sam. She's brilliant, and loves Naruto. Actually, she deserves more credit for this than I do. That's why I say it's for her. -gives chibi-Sam a GIANT hug- Sorry if my blabbing at the beginning was totally schizophrenic, guys. I've just been getting some really stupid reviews, and I cuoldn't bring myself to write any more until I got that crap out of my system. There. C'est tout. Finis. Now, I can get on with my life, and finish editing Chapter 5, which will be fun, since you find out more about Moegi...an interesting kid.  



	6. HideandSeek and Paranoia

**A/N:** Oook. I guess I ought to apologize for my totally nuts-o rant in my last posting. I hope you guys read all the way through, or at least skipped all of the craziness to the nice interlude. After writing that, I think I really understand Sasuke a lot better. Not sure about you guys, but it was hard to write that. I kept getting all choked up, especially toward the end. Hmm. This chapter...Well, we have a paranoid ANBU member, yet another instance of Konohamaru mouthing off, Sasuke getting ticked off because kids suck, a visit from Kakashi, and weapons inventory from our little red-head, Moegi. Put it all together, and what have you got? I dunno. You'll have to read it. Warnings? Um. Mild language, some off-the wall taijutsu tactics, and another non-canon character is now entering our story: Aburame Sonora. Like I said, I'm running out of names. Oh, and more OOCness than you can shake a stick at.

**Legal Stuffiness:** I dont' own Naruto or any of its characters. However, Sarutobi Hanmaru and Aburame Sonora are mine...

* * *

**Time: **4.5 years after Sasuke's departure 

**Place:**Konoha, Uchiha compound

**Mission:** Chuunin Exam training (Sasuke, Konohamaru, Moegi), babysitting Sasuke, Konohamaru, Moegi (ANBU)

* * *

Chapter 5: Hide-and-Seek and Paranoia 

Early in the morning, two small figures entered the front gates of the Uchiha compound, walking casually along the street. They talked and laughed between the two of them, and occasionally, one shoved the other, causing a short fight. Hanmaru eyed them from behind his sharp-beaked mask. "Senpai," He asked as his captain approached from the north. "Do you know them?"

The man behind the fox mask nodded. "Genin on the team he's been assigned to. I suppose they're here for training." The other man was silent. He hadn't stayed alive for this long being complaisant. At a small cough from him, Naruto sighed. "Fine. Go check them out, Hanmaru." The ANBU smiled behind his mask. One couldn't be too careful, after all. It was his job to make sure people understood that. Even his captain. "Hai."

When he jumped down from a rooftop to land in front of the two genin, both instantly tensed, and drew weapons. Then they realized who they were looking at. "Oh." The boy said, "We're here to train with Sasuke-kun." Hanmaru strode over to the boy, taking hold of his chin and turning his face from side to side. After doing the same to the girl, he was satisfied that they weren't clones, replacements, or impostors of any other sort.

"Proceed." He said in his slightly nasal drawl. They moved on toward the Uchiha main house, glancing back at him a few times with odd expressions on their faces. "Damned brats." He said under his breath. When he jumped back up onto the rooftop, he reported to his captain. "They checked out."

"I _told_ you, Hanmaru. Now stop being so freaking paranoid!" The irritation in his voice was apparent. Vaguely, he wondered when the last time the captain had slept. It didn't matter at the moment. They were going to be on two-man shifts from this point on. If he knew the captain at all, he'd want to take rest first.

"Hanmaru, I'm going to see if I can get some sleep. I'll be in the main house." _Just as I thought. Well, maybe when he comes back, and it's Kotetsu's turn, he'll be a little more relaxed._ He could hardly believe that he wished the man were more relaxed. There were times when he seemed almost lax. Hanmaru's motto was "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean no one's after you." He'd lived by it so far, and it had worked for him. His captain was strangely easy-going, which he'd never understand.

* * *

Sasuke sat at the kitchen table with Konohamaru and Moegi. They'd gotten up and dressed, then came over without eating breakfast. Konohamaru claimed he was too excited to eat, but both he and Moegi looked nervous. Both genin had plates of food in front of them, untouched. "You're going to need all the energy you can get, you two." Sasuke heard Naruto's voice from behind him. He turned to see the blonde ANBU, who had removed his mask and was rubbing his neck wearily. "Sasuke trains hard. You'll have to try to keep up." 

Rising from the table, Sasuke approached his friend. "You look like hell, Naruto. Go and get some sleep. You can take the spare bedroom." The other man nodded gratefully and disappeared to the back of the house. When he turned back to the table, he saw Konohamaru staring openmouthed at him. "What?" He asked, a bit more coldly than he had meant to.

"You…you're being _nice_ to Naruto-niichan. What's up with that?"

"Get over it an eat your eggs, Konohamaru. Naruto's right. I expect you two to keep up with me." He smiled, but his voice said that he didn't think they could. The boy scowled at him and began wolfing down his food. Moegi simply ate her meal more slowly, taking her time.

"Sasuke-kun, what will we be doing today?" She asked as she put her plate in the sink and sat back down.

"The _first_ thing you two are going to do is clean up that mess from last night. You put holes in the street, and left caltrops everywhere." They groaned. "No arguments. I don't want to hear them. How about I come over to your house and start throwing jutsus around?" They didn't seem to like the sound of that. Grudgingly, they got up and went out to the front of the house. In the meantime, Sasuke went to check on Naruto. When he got to the door of the spare bedroom, he found that the man had fallen asleep in his uniform, his katana lying next to him on the bed for easy access.

He shook his head, and went to change. The clothes he'd been wearing when he returned were now clean, so he decided to wear those. He strapped his dart launchers to his arms and then tugged on his shirt. Once he'd tied the sash of his hakama pants, he slipped on his sandals, then pulled his hair into a ponytail. Surveying himself in the mirror, he was moderately satisfied with the image he presented. When he got to the front door, he found Konohamaru packing the dirt back into the re-filled holes by jumping on it vigorously. Moegi had a magnet on a string, collecting all of the caltrops, walking a grid-like pattern. Sasuke raised an eyebrow slightly. _Kid's got a little bit more smarts than I thought. Now, what about you, Konohamaru?_

Once they'd finished, they immediately asked about training. When they got to the backyard, Sasuke said, "Ok. First training…I've got it. We'll have a round of hide and seek."

"Huh?" The two younger genin said in unison.

"Three-way hide and seek. It's pretty challenging, actually." Konohamaru snorted. "What? Do you have something to say?" Instead of the boy saying anything, Moegi cut him off.

"It's too easy for him, Sasuke-kun. He's developed a complete concealment jutsu. Neither of us will be able to find him until he makes his presence known." Moegi's lip stuck out in a bit of a pout, indicating her jealousy at such an accomplishment.

Sasuke muttered, "I'll believe that when I see it…"

The spiky-ponytailed boy smirked. "If you insist…" Konohamaru's hands formed some of the oddest seals Sasuke had ever seen other than Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu. He seemed to melt into the grass, and then disappeared altogether. Sasuke ran his hands over the grass where the boy had been, and then activated his Sharingan. All he saw was grass. _A technique to hide from the Sharingan? I wonder if it works for the Byakagun as well?_

"Moegi…has he tried this around any of the Hyuuga?" Sasuke suddenly felt a sharp point between his shoulderblades. He hadn't felt the boy's chakra, heard him, or sensed any movement when he'd reappeared.

"Yes." Konohamaru said gleefully. "And they can't see me, either." Moegi was right. It was a complete concealment technique. Amazing.

"Quid pro quo, Konohamaru. I teach you guys something, and you teach me something. How's that?" He crossed his arms carefully, so that he didn't disturb the cords of the dart-launchers, and waited for the answer he hoped for. The boy seemed to think for a moment or two. He and Moegi looked at one another. Then, they both nodded vigorously. "Now, what should I teach you?"

Konohamaru's face scrunched in child-like concentration. Moegi also seemed lost in thought. The boy then said, "You already said you'd teach us the shiruken version of the _Kage Bunshin_. So that one doesn't count. You have to teach us something else, too."

Moegi asked quietly, "Can you teach me the _Shishi Rendan_?" Sasuke tapped his finger against his lips.

"I'll have to see your taijutsu first. It takes a certain level to be able to do that." His drawling voice made it clear that he didn't really believe that she had attained that level. He may have changed a lot, but there was one thing about him that would never change. Sasuke would always be one to push others. No matter if it was out of spite, or like now, when he was trying to get her mad enough to be able to fight him. Kurenai said that she was confident when sparring with her teammate, but not anyone else.

The girls eyebrow twitched slightly upward. Still quietly, she said in a tone that indicated challenge, "Should we see how I hold up?" Smirking, he nodded. She smiled broadly in a vulpine grin, and approached him almost casually. _What the hell is she doing? No stance, no tension…she doesn't even have her guard up._ Then, Sasuke suddenly remembered how fast Moegi had summoned up the caltrops. That was a little late, however. She moved so suddenly that it took him activating his Sharingan just in time to avoid her foot kicking him in the face.

The small girl jumped into the air, and used his shoulders as something of a vault, disappearing over his head. He whirled around to face her, but the wasn't there. She'd slid on the ground on his right side, and Sasuke again narrowly missed her attack, because she'd nearly taken out his knee. He was suddenly reminded of Rock Lee. Moegi attacked again, but this time, he was ready. He blocked her fist, and used her momentum to throw her in a hip-toss. She landed on her back, and Sasuke, still holding her hand, put his foot on her chest.

"Give up?" His tone was amused, which only incensed her further. After throwing him off of her, she attacked him, and he again deflected her attack, this time throwing her headlong into Konohamaru, who had settled onto the back porch to watch. When they'd untangled themselves from one another, Sasuke said, "Ok. That was good. Do you know why your attacks started to falter?"

Moegi didn't look at him. "Because you pissed me off!" Her voice came out as a hiss, and then she made a visible effort to calm herself. "Ok. So I got mad. You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Well, you seem like you need to be angry to fight. That can't always happen. There will be times when you'll have to kill, and it won't always be in open battle. You get mad in battle, but if it's an assassination, getting mad could make you sloppy, you know?" Sasuke blinked. When had he started channeling Iruka? He shook himself. "I'll teach you. But you've got to teach me about those caltrops." Frowning slightly, he said, "I never really had much use for weapons summoning, but then again, something like that could come in handy. What else do you have in there?" He pointed to the scrolls holstered at her thigh. There were twelve of them, only three inches long.

Pointing to each in turn, Moegi recited from memory, "Caltrops, katana, extra shiruken, extra kunai, spear, staff, smoke bombs, flash-bangs, death-wires, and three of my own design. This one is a disguise outfit for if I need to suddenly change and mask my chakra in public. This one is…well, it's an acid geyser. Last, but not least, is my favorite…the portable hole."

"You're kidding." Both Sasuke and Konohamaru blinked, not only at the mention of something so outlandish, but also at the arsenal she had strapped to her leg.

"No fair, Moegi! You didn't tell me about that hole thing!" The young boy crossed his arms over his chest.

With a coy smile, Moegi pulled the scroll. "Do you want to see, baka?"

"Wait a minute." Sasuke put a hand on her arm. "You have all of this stuff stashed somewhere, I'll guess, since it's a summoning, but what about the hole?" He was fairly baffled by this entire 'portable hole' idea.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I have the stuff. So? There's an old well in the middle of nowhere right on the edge of Sand territory. It's the same as summoning a weapon, only it's a place. The well opening just temporarily isn't there for a few minutes. It's the only one of these things that has a time limit." The corners of her mouth turned down. It was clear that she didn't like the limitations it presented. Still, it was a very interesting concept.

Konohamaru's eyes lit up. "I know! Can you teach me the _Chidori_?" Before the word was completely out of his mouth, Sasuke smacked him. "Itai! What was that for?"

"I'm not teaching you that, baka. It's really dangerous, even to the user. I don't use it unless I have to. _You_ would probably kill yourself." He heard the boy call him something worse than he had before. In a dangerously quiet voice, he said, "Do you have a problem with me, kid? If you do, let's have it out right now. If you're gonna blow up at me, I'd rather have it happen now, rather than in the Forest of Death." The boy's eyes widened. "Oh. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. But now that I have, I guess I should let you know. The second part of the chuunin exams includes forty-eight hours in that forest, to complete a specified task. As I understand it, the task is different every time. When I took the exam last time, a bunch of people died." At that, Konohamaru's jaw began to tighten. "You two are my teammates. I won't let you down, but I expect the same from the two of you."

For a long moment, Sasuke thought. How would he have reacted if he were in Konohamaru's position? _Honestly, I'd probably be acting worse._ "I know that I can't replace Udon, Konohamaru. But if you quit being such a chibi-teme yourself, and get your head out of your ass, we'll be able to work together a whole hell of a lot easier." Sasuke leaned against the porch railing. Sighing, he pulled up his sleeve to scratch an itch under the strap of his left dart launcher. The boy's eyes widened.

"Damn. That's some hardware you've got. It looks familiar." Moegi's eyes lit up at the sight of the aparatus, and there was a small smile on her face. The girl sure liked her weapons.

"Shizune-san wears them, too. That's where I got the idea. I built this myself, and added a few modifications of my own. But that's besides the point." He pulled down his sleeve. "I really think we could use a little help. Konohamaru, do you know Hyuuga Hinata?"

"Hai. She teaches the little girls at the Academy."

"Can you go and ask her if she and her younger sister can come over? Moegi, please go over to the Aburame compound. Find Shino. If he's not available, try his cousin. She should be about your age." Sasuke thought that it would help if they had a full team to work off of, and even though Hyuuga Hiashi wasn't his greatest admirer, Hinata had enough influence with him to make him relent if she really wanted to.

"Why the Aburame? They creep me out. And Sorano's worse than Shino. She's just…super-creepy!" Moegi looked petrified. She really wasn't looking forward to going to the Aburame compound.

"They're excellent ninjas, Moegi. Just go." The two younger genin took off in separate directions, jumping over rooftops and trees. Sasuke shook his head. Why had people told him it would be like when he was on Team seven? It was nothing like that at all. For some reason, he felt like he needed guidance. He sighed. It had certainly been a long time since he felt that way. A slight noise behind him made him turn. He snorted. "Kakashi. Just the man I wanted to see."

The silver-haired jounin waved his lazy wave, and scratched his head. "I was in the neighborhood."

"Bullshit. You were watching the whole time, weren't you?" His former teacher's eye twinkled. "I might have known. So. I wanted to ask you something."

"Fire away, Sasuke." The man seemed over his initial discomfort from Sasuke's return, which was a relief.

"How did you do it? Managing us, I mean? Kids suck!" Sasuke's outburst surprised even himself. Really, how does one manage children that have abilities like those a genin gains? They've got the ability, and sometimes, the motivation to kill you in your sleep.

Laughing, Kakashi pulled out a familiar slim orange-bound book. "You have to find something that…relaxes you. Want to try?" Sasuke blushed at the mere thought of reading Icha Icha Paradise, or any of the other books by the mysterious frog-Sannin. One page was enough to make him never want to see anyone naked ever again, even himself.

"No thanks. I don't think I need those images in my head. Besides, I'm not their instructor, I'm their teammate. I just want to work well enough with them to get us through the exams safely, the outcome be damned." He really didn't care at this point if he'd be a genin for the rest of his life. He just wanted to get this over with. And he'd made up his mind: nothing was going to harm his teammates. Nothing. He watched his former sensei for a moment, as the man began leafing through the book in a distracted way.

"So where did the brats run off to so fast?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke could practically hear the man smiling.

"They went to get training partners for us." When the masked man's eyebrow rose, Sasuke said, "Hinata, Hanabi, and Shino, or his younger cousin, Sonora. I need some kind of way to test their abilities, but not against each other, or me. We need to work together, not against each other."

The other man nodded. "Not a bad idea. Too bad you guys never really came up with that kind of idea when you were younger. That would have been interesting. Especially to see you and Shino going at it." Sasuke agreed with that. Of all the people he'd fought and sparred with, he'd never fought an Aburame. He wondered what would happen if he did. Then again, he'd been surprised twice already this morning, so there really wasn't any way to know what would happen even if he'd seen some of the Abruame's abilities.

"I'm going inside. Care to join me?" Sasuke moved for the back door. Before he got there, he stopped. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmn?"

"I was wondering. You remember that seal you put around Orochimaru's seal?" He hadn't turned around, but he could tell the other man's mind was working. Shifting feet behind him told him that Kakashi was approaching him, then he felt the collar of his shirt being tugged, and then there was a grunt. He knew exactly what the man had seen. The seal he'd placed there was gone. "Could you put it back?"

Kakashi said quietly behind him, "I don't think it would be a good idea."

"Why?"

"You've mostly learned to deal with it, haven't you?"

"Yes, but it would be nice if I didn't have to worry about waking up in the middle of the night having it burning like it's going to eat through my body." Sasuke absently touched the mark at the base of his neck. Anger would get him nowhere, but he couldn't help being at least a little angry—ok, really angry—at Orochimaru for marking him like that. It would have been one thing if he'd asked for it. But he hadn't. Now, he was literally scarred for life, and unless the thing faded with the Sannin's death, he'd probably never be rid of it.

"Sorry, Sasuke. Maybe after the exams, Shizune-san can figure something out. For now, you'll just have to keep your emotions even and make sure you don't need to activate that thing." Sasuke sighed. He'd been afraid that Kakashi would say something like that. He kept walking into the house, the other man following him.

Now in the kitchen, Sasuke sat at the table. The jounin sat across from him. "I had a dream last night, Kakashi." A slight twitch of his former sensei's eyebrow showed mild interest. "It was about my brother."

"This isn't where you start turning into a burning ball of Uchiha angst and talking about being an avenger, is it?" The bored tone of the older man's voice told Sasuke that he should try to keep it short if that was the case. He shook his head.

"No. I had an epiphany. I think I understand him now, Kakashi." He drew in a deep breath, stilling his mind, pushing away the fearful memories that tried to invade at the thought of his brother. He had to be strong. "He's too strong, sensei. Even he knows that. No one should ever be that strong. I think he wants me to kill him." If he'd been able to see the man's face, he was sure that he'd have found a look of utter disbelief.

"You sure about that, kid? I mean, he's nuts, alright, but he's got a pretty good sense of self-preservation." Kakashi leaned his chin on one of his hands, elbow on the table-top.

It was no use trying to explain it. "I know my brother, Kakashi." He knew he was right. The only problem was going to be actually killing his brother. He had to be strong. There had to be a way to overcome the _Mangekyo Sharingan_. He would find it. "Wait. How could I be so stupid?" He growled, his frustration with himself taking over. The jounin's half-lidded eye blinked, waiting for an explanation. "Do you have the _Mangekyo Sharingan_, sensei?"

"Hai, but I don't have full control over it, and it comes with a price."

_More than one price…_Sasuke thought for a moment. "Did you kill your best friend?"

"No."

"But in the family history, it says that the requirement for attaining it is killing your best friend…" Sasuke thought back to the day when he had nearly gained that variant of the Sharingan. A tight feeling began to form in his chest. Never again. He would never again contemplate killing his closest friend, the man he now thought of as his brother. Never again.

Kakashi seemed to think for a few minutes as he leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. In a very serious tone, he said, "I didn't deliberately cause the death of Uchiha Obito. He did die because of me. Before he did, he gave me a little gift…" Sasuke knew the story. He'd read the history of his cousin's death. "This brings up an interesting point, doesn't it, kid?"

"What's that?"

"Histories can be vague, can't they? I got it, even though I didn't murder him. That isn't saying that I don't have one hell of a guilt trip, though." This was apparently difficult for his sensei to talk about. He was speaking hesitantly, which was extremely rare. "Maybe, just maybe, it's all in here." His finger rested on his temple. A psychological thing?

"Does that mean that Itachi feels guilty?"

"Every man has his breaking point." When the man was silent for a moment, Sasuke began to think. It was an interesting idea to think that his brother could feel guilty for what he'd done to get the _Mangekyo_. But could he count on that? There was really no way to tell.

"I guess I'll have to keep it in mind." _Damn. _By this time, he was starting to wonder what was keeping the other two genin. They should be back by now. There was scuffling heard from the front of the house. _Crap, not again._ He groaned, rising from his chair and walking through the main living area to the front door. What greeted his eyes was not what he expected.

* * *

**A/N**: Oh, what could have surprised Sasuke? Maybe it's the Easter Bunny? Nah. Too early for that. The only thing I could possibly think that would surprise him at this point would be having Shino ask for his hand in marriage (cringe...twitch). Don't worry. I just haven't thought of anything really good yet. Ah, writer's block! 


	7. Walking Dead

**A/N:** Hello again you guys. I know I said I was gonna slow down, but I can't. While I was at work today, my writer's block finally broke wide open. It was really getting to me last night while I couldn't figure out what to do. Couldn't sleep. It's a problem when that happens. But like my teacher says: every problem is an opportunity. So, I took the opportunity being by myself presented. While I was at work, on the clock, I slacked off and wrote about five pages. So, in this lovely chapter, we see what surprised Sasuke so much! It's a doozie. Also, I've decided to make Sonora the silent type, until they really start paying attention to her. So you won't find out too much about her must yet. Oh, I've been threatened...can you see me shaking? Just read my latest review for chapter 1. I'm not repeating that. Really, who uses that kind of language in a review? Anyway, warnings? Um, mild language as usual, and a bit of violence, but that's not really what you need to worry about.

**Legal Stuffiness**: Ok, I think we know by now I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**Time:** 4.5 years after Sasuke's departure 

**Place: **Konoha, Uchiha compound

**Mission:** Survival

* * *

Chapter 6: Walking Dead 

Konohamaru's arm was on fire. How had this happened? _No, I know exactly what happened._ _That freaky ANBU guy is just way too paranoid._ He'd simply been walking into the front gates when he was taken by surprise by some kind of flame jutsu, which he had managed to avoid for the most part. After he finally beat out the flames licking his arm, he gritted his teeth, and formed several hand seals. He'd been hiding behind a post, but now he melted into the ground, becoming part of it. He could now move at his leisure. The problem was, even though Moegi thought differently, he had not perfected this jutsu for longer distances. The door to the Uchiha main house was very far away indeed.

He had no eyes, or ears at this point, only the acute awareness of everything around him. He was the ground. He felt the bird-beaked ANBU turning a slow circle, watching all directions at once, attempting to locate him. As he drew nearer the main house, the two young women he was sent to retrieve entered the gates, and were also attacked. Konohamaru's consciousness reeled as chakra flared from the girls, blocking the same flame attack he'd failed to dodge. _Almost there…hold on!_ But as he thought that, he felt the jutsu failing, felt himself materializing, rising up out of the ground, and then heard the rapid footsteps of the man who was running at him.

The Sandiame's grandson had never crawled so quickly in his life. He scrabbled onto the porch, and was nearly to the door when he felt his injured arm flare in pain. With his fingers nearly touching the wooden door, he was hauled back, gritting his teeth against the pain. A foot was pressed between his shoulder blades, his blistered skin cracking as his assailant twisted his arm behind him. Still, he didn't make a sound. _Kill me, go on! I won't make a damned sound, teme!_ As his arm was twisted harder, he heard and felt his shoulder dislocate. The only sound Konohamaru made was a sharp intake of breath, then banging his head on the plank flooring of the porch, attempting to uncloud his vision from the pain.

* * *

The door slid open, and as it did so, Sasuke found three things he'd never expected to see. The first was one of the ANBU assigned to guard his house attempting to rip Konohamaru's arm off. The second, perhaps even more disturbing, was that Hinata and her sister were behind the man, about to attack him, grim determination in their eyes. Sasuke's own eyes widened in surprise and awe as the final thing appeared to shock him more greatly than anything he'd yet seen. 

Naruto, in his ANBU uniform, though without the mask, had his katana drawn once again, and had it at the other man's throat. "Hanmaru, stand down!" The blond ANBU captain's voice grated out, letting the man know that he was more than serious, and that if orders were not complied with immediately, he would be dead before he could take another breath. When he did not move, the katana was flipped around and used not for the blade, but for the back side, as a club. Delivering a crushing blow to the man's left shoulder, Naruto's steel broke bones, and the other man staggered away.

Konohamaru's arm fell heavily to the ground, and Hanabi helped him to his feet, grasping the arm that was not injured. Sasuke's attention was pulled again to his friend and the other ANBU, Hanmaru. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Hanmaru?" He hissed through clenched teeth. Naruto seemed ready to kill him.

"My job, senpai."

The captain snorted without any humor whatsoever. Sasuke saw his eyes flick to Hinata, who stood behind Hanmaru. Had the offending ANBU member been able to see the woman behind him, he'd have seen chakra flaring around her hands, though he wouldn't have been able to dodge it. It seemed that the young Hyuuga woman had taken lessons from her cousin, because what she did was similar to what Sasuke had seen Neji do to Naruto in the last chuunin exam he'd been present for. Small, tight bursts of chakra were forced into the man's tenketsu, blocking the openings, and surely causing great pain.

When she'd done with him, he lay on the ground, gasping for breath. However, true to his persistent nature, Hanmaru began to push himself off of the ground. Though he could not use his chakra, and he could not make use of his left arm, it seemed that he was not going to go down without a fight. However, the man's arms and legs suddenly drew together, and he went rigid.

"Got him!" Moegi's small voice was heard from the other side of the street. One of her scrolls was lying on the ground, and her hands were in front of her, gripping something unseen. The girl had summoned death wires. _Resourceful…_Sasuke had been standing in the doorway during the thirty seconds or so that this brief but violent conflict had been going on. Now, he stepped forward, walking calmly. There was something wrong with this picture.

His suspicions were confirmed when he came to a stop in front of Hanmaru. Sasuke reached up and removed the man's mask. "Here's your problem. He's not Hanmaru." The others goggled at him. "At least, he isn't Hanmaru anymore. Look at his eyes closely." What he saw, and what the others also soon saw was that the man's eyes were clouded with blood. "He's dead. Has been for a while from the looks of things. This is Orochimaru's doing." Taking a very deep breath, he said, "I suppose this means more ANBU?"

"If I have anything to do with it, we'll have at least two teams up here, if not an entire squadron. I'm getting tired of this, Sasuke." Naruto said this in a weary tone. It was true that they'd been dealing with Orochimaru for years, and that it was long past time to get rid of him. "For now, I want all of you in the house. Hinata, Hanabi, keep a lookout. Sasuke, seal all entrances. Konohamaru, Moegi, if you're going to be staying, you better be ready. This could be worse than the exam next week." The two young genin nodded gravely, but made no move to leave. "Kotetsu!" Naruto yelled into his collar radio. "Get your ass over here. The perimeter doesn't mean anything anymore. Hanmaru's been compromised. You're going to do me a little favor."

In seconds, the spiky-haired ANBU was standing amongst them. "Keep them all inside. Don't let anyone in or out. I'm going to the tower." The other man nodded, and Naruto pulled his mask down over his face, red-painted whiskers glinting in the sun. He looked at Hinata after throwing the reanimated body of Hanmaru over his shoulder. "Arigato, Hinata-chan." He said just before leaping onto the roof of the main house, then moving with great speed over the unrestricted roofs of Konoha.

The young lady blushed, and her little sister rolled her eyes. Kotetsu's monkey mask tilted to the left. "Ok, that's enough of that. Now, let's all get inside. I don't like it when the captain gets antsy." Once everyone was inside, Kotetsu worked with Sasuke to place seals on the doors and windows, allowing only those who were already inside the house to remain there safely. One other person had joined them, going unnoticed until they were all piled onto couches and chairs in the living room. A small girl in a long, dark coat sat between Hinata and Moegi, and she pushed her dark glasses up her nose. This could only be Aburame Sonora. Kakashi poked his head into the room, and said he'd be in the kitchen with his book. Honestly, he was getting lazy or something lately. Sasuke looked around.

Hanabi looked out of the window. She seemed to be thinking, and Sasuke didn't want to disturb her. Instead, he turned to the elder Hyuuga. "Hinata-chan, could you please tend to Konohamaru? He's looking a little pale." Indeed, the boy was not only losing color in his face, but was also starting to shiver. That wasn't a good sign.

"Hai. Come with me, Konohamaru-kun." They disappeared into the kitchen. Soon after, Sasuke could hear Hinata's voice, quietly telling the boy that "This is going to hurt." A hollow popping sound echoed down the hallway as the boy's shoulder was reset. _Tough kid. He didn't even make a sound. _Sasuke had been in his position, and though he was used to pain, he'd at least made some kind of groan the last time he'd dislocated a shoulder. The sound of running water came from the other room, and then there came a kind of hissing sound, and though he didn't know what it was, he wasn't going to interrupt.

Hinata had been using herbal remedies for some time now. He trusted her with this, and Konohamaru. Moegi looked worried, though. "Is he gonna be ok?" She asked, not really directing the question to anyone in particular.

"Of course he'll be alright." Hanabi said quietly, patting the girl's arm. "Hinata is really good at using herbs and medicines. She always carries some with her, just in case. Sometimes I tell her she should ask Tsunade-sama to train her as a medic, but she always says that she has other responsibilities. Your friend is going to be fine." The dark haired girl smiled faintly, and Moegi seemed pacified, for the moment. After about twenty minutes of sitting in silence, the rest of them watched Hinata escort the injured Konohamaru back into the room.

His shirt, singed and torn, had been partially cut away, revealing his arm to the shoulder, which was now tightly bandaged. He did seem more calm, which was good, and when he sat down next to Sasuke, he looked over at him. "That guy Hanmaru…he's dead?" Sasuke nodded. "He was being used as a puppet?" Again, the elder genin nodded. "Ok. Then I don't blame him for this." He looked down at his arm, which lay limply on his lap. With a mirthless laugh, he said, "Remind me not to piss off any more ANBU."

Kotetsu, who was crouched in the corner, pushed up his mask. "Hey, kid, come here." The boy rose from the couch shakily and shuffled over to the one remaining ANBU. They had a quiet conversation between the two of them, and Hinata came to sit once again next to her sister. Sasuke caught her eye, the obvious question in his eyes. She nodded, an encouraging smile in her face. _He'll be alright. Good. Now, if we can just survive until the exam…_

* * *

Neji narrowed his eyes. Orochimaru was getting sloppy. He'd come into the village himself, once again. As he stood before the Hokage with Naruto, looking down at the corpse of Sarutobi Hanmaru, he wondered briefly what the man was so desperate for. Sure, he wanted the Sharingan, but there was no real time limit for him. He had the ability to maintain his consciousness indefinitely, within any body he chose. So, why did he feel the need to have Sasuke's body _right now?_ It was something to think about another time, as the Hokage had begun to speak. 

"We've still not gained any information from that brat Sasuke and Sakura caught. He's clammed up, and now, I don't think we have any chance of making him talk. Kakashi's even tried a few things, and…nothing." She slammed a hand down on the desk. "Maybe we should just kill him and get it over with." The expression on her face at that moment was as close to defeat as Neji had ever seen her. She was starting to be really frustrated with the situation, and could see no way to improve it.

Suddenly, Naruto said in a low and almost amused tone, "Let me have ten minutes alone with him, Hokage-sama."

"What do you think you're going to accomplish, brat?" The woman snapped, her temper flaring as it always did with him.

"I think that I might be able to get him to talk, that's all." Neji wondered what he was thinking. Naruto was full of surprises, that was sure, but what could he do in ten minutes that three ANBU and Kakashi had failed to in nearly twenty-four hours? Sighing inwardly, he did what he usually did. He stood there, silent, waiting.

"Ten minutes, then. Your time begins now." After a short glance at the clock on the wall, the Hokage looked back to him, but he was not there. She laughed. "Think he'll get the guy to talk?"

Neji lifted his mask. There was an uncertain expression on his face. "I don't know. He's not the best inquisitor I've ever seen. He's sloppy, but then it might help with Kabuto. I guess we'll see in ten minutes." In the interval, while they waited, he leaned against the wall, and Tsunade looked over some papers. Eleven and a half minutes later, Naruto poked his head into the room. Twin expressions of expectancy graced both Neji and Tsunade's faces, and Naruto smiled broadly.

"He's ready to talk now."

Before he could stop himself, Neji's jaw dropped open. He heard Tsunade drop something on her desk. "What did you do, brat?"

"_Henge no Jutsu!_" Naruto said, forming the seal. He turned into Sakura. _Oh, that's clever._ Naruto used the image of the one person who would not hesitate to kill the captive Sound nin. It was obvious that he'd done something quite dastardly to get him into a talking state, which didn't really surprise Neji that much. "I just pretended to be Sakura sneaking in to get a few cheap shots in on him, and he was so scared, he wet himself…"

Tsunade sighed, shaking her head. "Well, now we know how to get him to talk. Naruto, you need a new team member. Pick one of the new recruits. Neji, get your team together. You're going too. We have to keep Orochimaru away from the Uchiha kid." She rubbed her forehead. "Damn, this is giving me a headache. Shizune!" The dark-haired woman appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. "Find Sakura. Have her question Kabuto. And tell her to be a bully." Shizune frowned for a moment, and then nodded as she left, her eyes flickering between the two young men before she did.

Neji wondered momentarily what Shizune did in her free time. It seemed that her life revolved around making sure that the Hokage did her job. The fact that she succeeded in that task at all showed her to be a formidable woman. Nearly smirking, he wondered how he would feel if he were reduced to being someone's secretary. Then, that thought was pushed from his mind.

"I'll be ready in ten minutes, Neji." Naruto smiled at him, and Neji nodded. The other captain was an odd one. He could shift from one mood to another in the blinking of an eye. Then Naruto was gone once again, off to find a fresh recruit for his team.

Bowing formally, Neji said, "Please excuse me, Hokage-sama." She waved a hand at him, shooing him out.

* * *

Naruto sighed. Hanmaru had been a good ANBU, yet he was killed. Too many of his friends had been hurt by Orochimaru. He sat in the closet that he called an office, and looked over three files. Three promising candidates, but which would he choose? Between he and Kotetsu, there was enough sarcasm in the team, not to mention enough general wise-cracking. They needed a straight man. He looked over the first file, deciding against this one. The second was a little to mysterious. Finally, he decided on the third. Thinking, he tapped the bridge of his nose. 

_Yeah. It'll have to be him. But man, is he gonna hate taking orders from me…_They needed someone to level them out, someone who could make sure Kotetsu didn't get too lazy. Someone to gently question his orders if necessary, who would _know_ if it were necessary. But, they needed someone who would be able to take orders and follow them with good grace.

He felt like he hadn't slept in weeks as he rose from his chair. Slipping his mask back on, he threw the files into his desk drawer and went out to get the third member of his team. There would be time to mourn for Hanmaru later, and he had to keep his mind on the objective for now. Sasuke no baka would be sitting there, being watched over by Kotetsu, Hinata, and Hanabi.

If only that Hanabi kid were able to be in ANBU…Now that would be a great addition to any team. She was fast, efficient, and level-headed. The only problem was her father. Hyuuga Hiashi refused to allow either of his children to enter ANBU. He couldn't have the heir and her younger sister running around on such dangerous missions. _Oh, well. Gotta work with what you're given. Heh. What I've got isn't so bad._

* * *

"Is Shino-san at home?" The ANBU at the door asked, and was ushered into the Aburame house, to wait for Shino. He looked around, and noted the sparsely furnished space. It was immaculately clean, but he had not expected anything else. After a long moment, he saw the insect-using shinobi walk into the room. "Shino-san," The man handed him a scroll. 

He couldn't see the man's eyes scanning the document, but was pleased when the scroll was rolled back up, and the assignment was accepted. "Taicho," Shino's deep voice came from behind the ever-present high collar.

The ANBU laughed. "So formal?" Shino raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you insist. But don't be surprised when the other member of our team doesn't exactly call me taicho." The Aburame's eyebrow rose again. "Heh. Come with me, Shino-san. We have an assignment." The Aburame briefly went into the next room to get a small bag, then followed the other. As they raced across rooftops toward the tower, the masked man said in a voice that danced with amusement, "If you ever get over that formality, just call me Naruto."

Shino made a noise that sounded much like a snort, and Naruto smiled behind his mask. _So he can laugh._

* * *

Hinata's eyes scanned the surrounding area, through the walls of the house. She was watching the eastern half while her sister was taking care of the western. After nearly two hours, she saw ANBU approaching from the northeast. There were three of them. When they got closer, she could see also that one had a dog with him. An abnormally large dog. _Neji's team…Where's Naruto-kun?_ Just as she was about to open her mouth to tell the others, her sister said, "There are ANBU coming from the west. Two. Looks to be Uzumaki-san, and another, an Aburame." 

"More ANBU from the northeast. Looks like Kiba-kun, Neji-niisan, and Tenten-chan. They'll be here in a minute." She then went to sit with Konohamaru. His arm was wrapped, but she was still worried about him. Lifting it and turning it over, she asked, "How does it feel, Konohamaru-kun?"

"Hurts," he grunted. She had to resist the urge to frown. He was injured, so she shouldn't get angry at him for being curt. He looked over at her. "Gomen, Hinata-chan. Do you need to check it or something?" She smiled. _At least he can tell if he's been mean. There are those who can't. _She proceeded to unwrap his arm. There was slighly blistered skin over about half of his arm, and though she knew it would scar, it would not be a severe scar. She re-wrapped the boy's arm and smiled at him again, encouragingly. If he kept it bandaged, and applied the cream she gave him over the next few days, he should be fine by the time the Forest of Death portion of the test came around. If he preferred, it might be better if he went to the hospital. In fact, Hinata was considering trying to convince Sasuke if he'd make his teammates go home. After all, there was nearly a week left before the second part of the exam, since the first part would only last one day, and they would certainly be given a day between the first and second portions.

* * *

Kotetsu was waiting at the door, ready to pull the seal. When the knock came, he looked out of the peephole. Five other ANBU stood outside, waiting. He pulled the seal quickly, and slid the door open. "Get inside, you guys." Once they'd gotten in, he closed the door and locked it, replacing the broken seal with a fresh one. As all six of them filed into the living room, Kotetsu watched Sasuke rise from the couch. 

He handed over a large ring full of keys to Naruto. "These are for all of the buildings in the entire compound. They're labeled, so you shouldn't have any problems." The Uchiha had anticipated their next move, and Kotetsu smiled behind his mask as his captain took the keys. It would be interesting to see what the Uchiha kid could do, but he wasn't on the exam staff anymore. He was just his babysitter until the second stage of the exam, and if he knew the Hokage, he'd be out with the rest of the ANBU, on high alert during the final matches.

* * *

**A/N:** So, hopefully I won't get any more death threats. Honestly! Hehe. How do you like Hinata? I just love her. Still isn't over her crush, is she? Now with the patrols doubled, the ANBU will begin searching the Uchiha compound, house by house. More to come, so stay tuned. 


	8. Uninvited Guest

**A/N: **Hmm. Here we are, with another chapter. In this one, we have a fight! A real Naruto fight. Not a spar. Hehe. It isn't a huge, all-out jutsu battle, but it gives you a little peek at what he's now capable of. Warnings: a sheepish Sasuke, some violence, mild language, and OOC as always. Thanks for reviewing, guys. You all make me happy! Oh, yeah. Someone asked me if there would be any pairings. Um, duh? Just to clarify for people who seem to read in their sleep: Sasuke and Sakura, duh. Ino and Chouji. That's it so far, though there are implications for others. Not as blatantly stated as Sasuke telling Sakura that he loves her and her yelling at him, but you should be able to spot it. Ok. That's it for hints.

**Legal Stuffiness:** Oh, come on guys. If I owned Naruto, would I write fanfictions about it. Ok, so I probably would, but I dont' own it, honest!

* * *

**Time:** 4.5 years after Sasuke's departure 

**Place:** Konoha, Uchiha compound

**Mission:** Training, prep for a dinner for 15, ANBU patrols

* * *

Chapter 7: Uninvited Guest

It was Thursday, and the ANBU had still not found anything in their search of the Uchiha compound. Now, Sasuke sat on the back porch of the house, taking a break from his training. He still had company coming over later. As it was, he had a full house, so to speak. His two teammates, Moegi and Konohamaru, had been sleeping over since Tuesday, and refused to leave, even though both he and Hinata had suggested it. For her part, Hinata and her sister Hanabi were also staying in the Uchiha main house, along with Shino's little cousin, Sonora. There were also occasionally various ANBU roaming the halls and gardens.

For the first time in nearly ten years, there was something approaching a family environment in the Uchiha compound. Konohamaru and Moegi fought like they were siblings, and Sasuke and Hinata had ended up turning referee more than once. Sonora remained silent most times, unless spoken to directly, resembling her elder cousin. Occasionally, if Kotetsu was allowed a break, he came to speak with Konohamaru. The street had people in it, albeit only a few, and Sasuke's smile had turned sad, remembering things he'd long since tried to forget.

Hanabi was, at the moment, sparring with Moegi. The younger genin was gaining some of the confidence that Kurenai had spoken of, for which he was grateful. Konohamaru's spar with Sonora was different. The Aburame was being careful of the boy's injured arm, and he knew it. Though he attempted to provoke her, nothing worked. He still hadn't figured out the key to fighting with someone who wasn't as hotheaded as himself or his teammate. Hinata sat next to Sasuke, watching the others spar. She asked, "Do you think they're getting better?"

He nodded. "Moegi hasn't gotten knocked out yet, I'd say that's a good thing. Yesterday, she got knocked out three times. Your sister is scary, Hinata-chan." A small smile formed on her face. Then, he said, "That is, she's very powerful. I don't think that I would want to fight her." Hinata's smile widened, and her eyebrow rose in a sarcastic expression.

"But you'll fight me, Sasuke-kun?" _That's right, Sasuke. Dig the hole deeper…_

He laughed a little. "Apology?"

"Accepted." She looked around, seemingly trying to find something. Sasuke knew what she was looking for.

"He's probably checking some of the last few houses in the southern part of the compound. He'll be back later. It'll be getting dark soon, and the teams will have to switch out." The Hokage had assigned Neji and Naruto's teams to cover the compound during daylight hours, and then two separate teams for night. Sasuke had offered lodging to all of them, but only the daytime teams had accepted. So, at any given time, there were from six to twelve ANBU within the confines of the compound, along with the heir of the Hyuuga and her sister, and Sonora, Sasuke, Moegi, and Konohamaru. He had a full house, indeed.

Later, he'd have even more people coming over. Sakura, Chouji, Shikamaru, and apparently Ino, would all be joining the rest of them for dinner. In all, there would be fifteen people at dinner. A sudden panic went through him. He had never cooked for so many. "Hinata-chan, I need your help." Her expression was confused. "You know that there'll be a lot of people here tonight, yes?" She nodded. "Can you help me? I haven't gone to get any food, and I've never cooked that much before. Ever."

Hinata grinned. It was a little odd to see her with a…mischievous grin. After a short pause, she gathered a bit of chakra in her hands, and clapped them above her head, causing the sound to amplify. All four genin ceased their spar, hearing Hinata's usual signal for taking a break. The all came over, inquisitive looks on their faces. "Ok, you four. We have a little mission for you. Sasuke-kun and I will be making dinner for everyone tonight. But we don't have supplies. So we'll make a list, and split it between the four of you. There's a time limit, though. You'll only have two hours." They didn't seem very enthusiastic.

Sasuke decided to add a small bonus. "Winner spars with whoever they want. The winner being the person who gets back with their items first, with nothing damaged." Moegi's eyes lit up, Konohamaru gained an evil glint in his eye, and Sonora simply stood there, one eyebrow raised. Hanabi nodded calmly. This was not the kind of mission she had done since she was first a genin, but it didn't really matter. Sasuke knew that the girl was willing to help. Ten minutes later, the four of them were streaking toward the market with separate lists. Sasuke had a new appreciation for Hinata's teaching skills. She was certainly better at dealing with children than he was.

* * *

"Shino, have you found anything?" Kotetsu's voice crackled over the radio, Naruto and Shino listening. 

"No. What about you two?"

Naruto sighed. "Not here. I think that's the last one." They met in the street. "I guess all that's left is patrol the inner area until the night shift arrives." Shino nodded, and Kotetsu grunted. The man never did like patrol duty. He'd just have to get used to it.

"Taicho?"

"Yes, Shino?"

"Do you really think that we can trust the Uchiha?"

Had his mask not been covering his face, the other man would have seen his expression darken. "Sasuke is like a brother to me, Shino. I think I know him well enough to know that he's able to be trusted. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't say anything more about it.

"Hai, taicho." Naruto's eyes rolled as he looked at the other man. His smiling jackal mask stared back. From behind the mask, Naruto could now actually see the color of Shino's eyes. An odd combination of dark blue and splashes of green, they were almost iridescent, which reminded Naruto of the insects that the Aburame used. He had only been part of his team for a couple of days, but Naruto really wished that he'd just cut it out with the formality. It was slightly annoying.

"I hope you're not like this at dinner, Shino." Kotetsu's voice was sarcastic behind his mask. "Hinata-chan and Sasuke-kun are busy cooking up a storm right now, and I'm sure that you wouldn't want to offend our host." Naruto nodded, agreeing for once with the cocky shinobi. Shino was silent, as expected.

"Heh. Let's start the patrol, and keep radio contact. I'm not losing another team member on a simple babysitting job." There was a slight growl hidden in his voice as he took off to the north of the compound. It had really begun to get to him that Hanmaru had died under his command. He knew that it wasn't his fault, but that didn't stop the irrational guilt from building up in the back of his mind. As he moved through the streets of the northern sector of the compound, scanning for movement of any type, his hand strayed to the familiar oblong bulge beneath his shirt.

"Tsunade-baba…" Memories of the first few weeks of knowing the present Hokage flashed through his mind. The expression on her face when he said he would one day be Hokage, and the utter disbelief in her eyes as he nearly jumped across the table at her when she insulted the former Hokages. The fact that she entrusted a precious family heirloom to him on a simple bet. Now, one of his subordinates had been killed, in broad daylight, less than a hundred meters from him. His hand gripped the crystal through his vest and shirt, beginning to shake slightly.

How could this have happened? He knew that it had been Orochimaru himself. That even if he or Kotetsu had seen him, there was no way that he could have been stopped. But that gnawing guilt had dug in its heels, and wasn't leaving, no matter how hard he pushed, pulled, or tried to pry it out. They trusted him. The Hokage, Sasuke, and others...how long would it be before he let them all down? Then, he saw something. Touching a finger to the pressure switch of the collar radio, he said, "Kotetsu, Shino, report."

"Nothing, senpai."

"Here either, taicho."

"Well, boys, I might have something here. Check back with you in two minutes. If not, come and find me. I'm headed toward Neji. Out." Keeping his breathing even, he followed the flash of color that he saw fleeing around the corner of the next building. Black. It had been black and red. Mind racing, he came around the corner of the building to look into the alleyway. The black and red blur disappeared again, this time taking a left down the next street. He jumped up onto the roof of the nearest house, and ran along the roofline, attempting to get a drop on the person who was obviously trying to evade him.

Again touching his collar radio to slightly change frequencies, he said, "Neji. Neji, you there?"

"Hai. What is it, Naruto?" The other man's voice was the same level quiet that it usually was, but there was something there that told Naruto that he had sensed the urgency when he called for him.

"I'm not sure, but I think I may have flushed someone out. He's heading your way. I'm in pursuit, taking high ground. Be in position to intercept." The man answered in the affirmative. Naruto just caught a glimpse of the dark blur heading southwest, and he increased his speed, trying to keep up. It wasn't long before he entered Neji's area of the compound, and into the half a kilometer around the Uchiha main house. Suddenly, the blur stopped.

Dropping to street level, Naruto cautiously approached what appeared to be a member of Akatsuki. He sidled along the edge of a two story structure, eyes locked on the red clouds on the long black coat. Still too far away from the man to see his face, he radioed Neji again. "Are you in position, Hyuuga?"

"Hai."

"Good. Can you see who it is?"

Silence was all Naruto heard for a moment, and he knew that Neji was activating the _Byakagun_ to check on the man's identity. A small cough came over the radio. "I'll give you two guesses, Naruto." The man was usually so direct that for an instant, he was surprised at the small amount of indirect wit that had entered into his voice. It was only an instant, though. After he cleared the small hitch in his breath, he answered.

"It's Itachi, isn't it?" The question seemed more of a statement, but really, there was little question to it. It was the elder Uchiha brother, and they had to get rid of him. Then he thought of something that chilled him. "Neji, cut the _Byakagun_, now." The man complied without asking for a reason. They both knew about the _Mangekyo Sharingan_, and of the two of them, Neji would be more sensitive to it, what with the acuity of vision that the _Byakagun_ gave him. It was silently understood between them that it would be better for him to stand by in reserve, in case Naruto couldn't handle the man.

All this time, he'd slowly been inching toward the Uchiha from behind, along the edge of the building, barely breathing, masking his chakra, and trying desperately to think of a plan. Then, Neji said something that really surprised him. "Uzumaki, be careful." It wasn't that the Hyuuga was uncaring toward Naruto, but it always surprised him when he showed concern for him, simply because he was so reserved.

"You know me, Neji." Naruto said quietly, smiling.

Through a slight amount of static, he heard Neji's slightly amused voice in his ear. "Yes, I do. Don't do anything foolish." Chuckling silently to himself, he drew his weapon, and walked out into the street.

"Uchiha Itachi."

As the man turned, the wind picked up, as if just for him, causing his coat to flutter around him, the sun glinting off of eyes that were as red as the clouds that were scattered over his the black fabric he wore. _Now, that's an entrance._ Naruto thought for a second that nature seemed to have a notion of making this man seem more formidable than he actually was, though it probably wasn't at all possible. He watched as the Akatsuki opened the top of his coat, resting one arm on a still fastened button at waist height.

Just like it was years earlier, Itachi's voice was a deep drawl, like a darker version of Sasuke's. "Uzumaki Naruto." The man smiled slightly, tilting his head slightly to one side. Naruto was not surprised that he knew it was him. After all, not that many people had hair like his…and the fact that the S-class criminals had been studying his movements from the shadows for some time surely helped. "I'm not here for you."

"Too bad, Uchiha. You got me. Now, the question is, what are you gonna do?" His bravado usually got him in trouble, he knew. He also knew that this would most likely be business as usual. The smile on Itachi's lips widened, just a little. _That can't be a good sign._ The last button opened on the other man's coat, and it fell away, revealing simple black clothing and a katana strapped to his back. Naruto usually preferred looking people in the eyes, but that could get him killed at this point.

So, he watched the other man's body, each muscle movement telling him what to expect. One hand rose to the hilt of his katana, and Naruto smiled. Planting the point of his own blade in the packed dirt of the street, he smiled slightly as he employed a fun little jutsu he'd invented just the year before. After forming six hand seals, he whispered, "_Katon Ken no Jutsu…_" and placed a hand on the hilt, the other grasping the blade just below the guard. His chakra flowed steadily into the palms of his hands.

Drawing the katana from the ground, it passed through the fingers that were holding the blade as if he were wiping it clean. As his hand moved to the tip of the blade, the steel glowed a dull red, then he drew it along the ground, and the blade was aflame. The other man actually seemed to be chuckling to himself. When he spoke, there was mild amusement in his tone. "Come, Uzumaki." _Never were very talkative, were you?_

In the blink of an eye, Naruto was upon him, and the clash of blades was heard in the street, sparks showering both men as they moved with equal speed. Neither man gained any ground on the other, for a long moment. Then, the Uchiha caught one of Naruto's feet with his own, knocking him off balance. The ANBU fell, and the Akatsuki sat on Naruto's hips, blade across his throat in the same instant that the smoldering blade came to his own neck.

Itachi used his other hand to move Naruto's mask aside. He pushed his face close to Naruto's in spite of the sizzle of and hiss of his own flesh burning when he did so. _Forcing me to look you in the eye, huh? Bastard._ "Uzumaki, I thought I told you that I'm not here for you. Listen and listen well. I am hunting vermin. You know of whom I speak."

"Orochimaru?" Naruto, now forced to look Itachi in the eye, searched the man's gaze for some hint of his intentions. He found none.

"Hai."

"So you expect me to let you go just because you're trying to kill the same guy I am?" He snorted. "For all _I_ know, you're here to kill Sasuke."

"No, Uzumaki. That day has not yet come. When it does, he will come to me." Naruto felt the pressure on his arm being relieved as the Uchiha stood and removed his blade from his throat. "I do not propose that you allow me to leave without first knowing what the Leaf will gain."

"I'm not in any position to bargain with you, Itachi. Only the Hokage can do that." His eyes burned up at Itachi as he pulled himself to his feet.

A wry smile had planted itself firmly on the other man's lips. "Uzumaki, the Hokage would _not_ bargain with me. She has no personal stake in this. You, on the other hand, have suffered at the hands of that coward, Orochimaru, as have your friends, and my brother." His eyes held something unreadable when he mentioned Sasuke. "I would not strike a bargain with anyone else." Not knowing what to think, Naruto replied in a tone that revealed not a little suspicion.

"What to you have in mind, Uchiha?"

"Give me information as to the coward's whereabouts, and I will rid the world of him. The Leaf will no longer have to worry about him." Naruto waited for the catch, but Itachi seemed to have spoken his piece.

"As simple as that? You're not asking for anything in return?"

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. I ask only that you leave me to my work." The tone of Itachi's voice had turned to that of a shop-keeper haggling with a particularly stubborn customer over the price of goods. This was a dangerous proposition. On the one hand, he could continue to fight Itachi, probably get himself killed in the process, and then Itachi would do what he wanted. Or, he could simply let the man go, himself beating a tactical retreat.

"What do you get out of this, other than me not bothering you?" Why was he even considering such a deal? He could be executed for treason for this.

"I get to kill Orochimaru. He's a coward, and he betrayed me and my associates."

Naruto smiled. "No honor amongst thieves, is that it?" The other man smiled again. After a moment, Naruto said, "Let's suspend reality and say that I agree. Will you agree to leave Konoha alone?"

"This village has never been a goal of mine, or of any of my associates. I'm sure you've figured out that there is only one thing in this village that we truly desire." At the mention of the Kyuubi, the thing stirred inside his head. It wasn't too keen on what they had planned for it. For some time, Naruto had begun to realize that the beast was getting slowly used to him, and had no desire to swap him out for another body. Itachi smiled more widely, a mere show of teeth. "When the day comes for us take it, that is the day you'll die."

"You know," the ANBU said, "I don't think that I'm very happy with the deal you've presented. How's about we negotiate a little?" The Kyuubi in the back of his head made a sound that could have been a laugh as he drew on its chakra, causing the katana in his hand to blaze more brightly than before. Leveling it at Itachi, he said in a dangerous tone, "Come, Uchiha."

"As you wish." Once again, steel rang against steel, and they were showered in the brightness of sparks. After a moment or so, Neji appeared in the mouth of an alleyway, as did the rest of the day-shift ANBU in other alleys. Naruto's blade dripped flame, which went sputteringly out on the ground, and sizzled into the flesh of Itachi's left arm when one of his swipes came too close to the Uchiha.

The other man had speed, accuracy, and his Sharingan on his side, and he wasn't gaining any ground. Neither was Naruto. In fact, Naruto was beginning to get bored. Physically, they were decently matched. He had to wonder what would happen if he used any other jutsus. After a short but furious volley of attacks and parries, he backed off. He knew better than to try any more fire techniques. Even if the man did get burned, he simply didn't seem to mind. He released the _Katon ken_ and then sheathed his blade, hearing it searing the wood inside the sheath.

When he looked back at the other man, Itachi was watching him in an inquisitive way. "What are you doing, Uzumaki?"

Smiling, Naruto scratched behind his head. "You're boring, Itachi. It's more fun fighting your brother." Turning away from him, he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants, and started walking away. If Itachi was half the proud bastard Sasuke used to be, he'd bristle enough at the insult that he'd most likely charge at him from behind. And that's when he'd get him.

* * *

Kiba stood next to Akamaru and Tenten in the alley. Why was Naruto walking away? He'd been doing pretty good against the guy. Tenten smiled next to him. "I didn't think he was that smart."

"What? He turned his back on the guy. I'd say that's pretty dumb." Kiba's eyebrows rose, and challenged the woman to tell him why she thought Naruto was smart.

"That's psychological torture." When the man didn't seem to understand, she nodded at Itachi. "Watch him closely, Kiba. He's shifting his weight from one foot to the other. His katana is starting to tremble. Naruto's making him mad on purpose. With Itachi, it could be more of a gamble than he should take, but I think it might be necessary."

"Then why don't we get over there and help?"

"Because, baka. He's here for a reason. Naruto's just trying to get information and then chase him off." Kiba nodded, understanding finally. He still wanted to sic Akamaru on the guy, but he didn't want to get his best friend hurt.

* * *

Naruto heard Itachi's footsteps, and heard them pick up speed. That was when he began gathering the _Rasengan_ in his hand, which was positioned nonchalantly to seem as if he still had his hand benignly at the waist of his pants. He took deep breaths, concentrating on building up the speed of the spin in the tight ball of chakra in his hand. The footfalls began to close in. Ten meters. Five. Two.

Naruto spun around, hand raised. Itachi was barreling toward him, katana raised, in perfect position for receiving a full dose of _Rasengan_ right in the middle of his chest. When he was only a meter away, Naruto extended his arm, ready to collide with the Uchiha. However, Itachi suddenly spun around in place, and Naruto simply ran past him, the jutsu still spinning in his hand. When he turned, he saw the missing-nin doubled over in what appeared to be pain.

"Wha—" Naruto looked around. There, in the nearest alleyway, was Sasuke. Sighing, and sheer panic rising in his stomach, Naruto watched as Sasuke pulled one of the cords on his right dart launcher. Three darts hit Sasuke's brother full in the chest. The younger Uchiha's face was a mask, devoid of emotion, but his eyes burned dark fire at his brother.

"Itachi." The elder looked up to see his brother. It was disturbing how much Sasuke resembled him. Naruto thougth it was like a photo-negative. Sasuke's white attire, Itachi's black, yet the similarities of their faces…It boggled the mind. Sasuke's voice shook. "Aniki, please leave. I will not ask you again." The elder stood there, plucking darts from his flesh and then looked over at the younger. His eyes held something that Naruto could not identify. Then, he simply was not there, vanishing much the way Kakashi did, in a small cloud of smoke.

* * *

Sasuke's breathing was ragged. He looked over at Naruto, the _Rasengan _now beginning to dissipate in his hand. Pulling down his right sleeve, he nodded to his friend. "You alright, Naruto?" The blonde ANBU's face was full of shock. Then, the street rang out with his loud voice.

"What the hell are you doing, Sasuke? You're supposed to be back at the house!" Naruto's mouth hung open a little, unable to fathom why he would have left the house, even with all the noise he could hear half a mile away.

"You're welcome, baka. I saved your ass, you know." He sighed at the confused expression on Naruto's face. He wouldn't understand until he explained it to him, but it didn't matter at the moment. "Ah, hell. It doesn't matter at the moment. The night shift just got here, so let's get back. Sakura and Hinata shoved me out of the kitchen, so I don't know what they're doing in there." He and Hinata had done most of the preparation work before Sakura had gotten there, but it had really been Sakura who did the shoving, making him go and spar with Konohamaru.

The rest of them followed behind him and Naruto. Sasuke turned a deaf ear to the protests his friend was giving him. He kept saying that he could have handled it himself. _Yeah. You could have handled it just fine. He was about to chop your head off, idiot._ Naruto had become frighteningly strong, but there were still some blind spots that he hadn't gotten rid of. When they got back to the house, the ANBU members went to clean themselves up, to be ready for dinner at eight.

And what a dinner it would be.


	9. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? Everyone!

**A/N:** Okie dokie. Here's chapter 8. I wanted to apologize for the way things turned out in chapter 7. I wasn't feeling inspired, and I forced myself to write anyway. So at least this time, I waited for the ideas to hit me. Now, let me see. Warnings? OOC of course! Blushing bishis, invasion of personal space, and a very childish conversation held (on one end) by Naruto. Beware the _Shentenshin._

**Legal Stuffiness:** I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be driving a Honda.

* * *

**Time: **4.5 years after Sasuke's departure 

**Place:** Konoha, Uchiha Compound

**Mission:** Dinner for 15

* * *

Chapter 8: Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? Everyone! 

Sasuke's eyes scanned the people at the table. He sat on one end, with Sakura to his right, and Neji to his left. Naruto was on the other end, still fuming at him, with Hinata and Hanabi sitting on either side of him. His friend was dressed, for once, impeccably. Sasuke had heard him fussing over his clothes from out in the hallway, and was prepared to walk into the room to make several derisive comments when he heard a soft voice grow slightly exasperated and change to a firm tone.

"_Naruto-kun, _hold still_." Hinata's tone made the blonde ANBU shut up, alright. Sasuke laughed to himself as he passed the room by, hearing nothing but the rustle of fabric as Naruto was aided in dressing himself._

In fact, Hinata had done an excellent job. The dark blue kimono that Naruto wore was adjusted perfectly, and Sasuke hid a small smile at the thought of Hinata shushing his friend and tugging him into something he usually didn't wear, all for the sake of being social. He looked over at Sakura. She seemed happy.

Her kimono was simple, light green with small pink shippou patterns along the hem and sleeves, and she smiled at him as she passed a bowl of rice over to Neji. "Aren't you hungry, Sasuke? You haven't touched your food." He smiled over at her weakly. He wasn't really feeling like eating anything. That wasn't the purpose for this gathering. At least, not to him.

Straightening, he used his now-empty teacup as an impromptu gavel to get the attention of his guests and friends. He suddenly wondered where Kakashi had slipped off to, but then thought better of it. The man came and went as he pleased, and there was no keeping track of him. "As many of you know, I've called you all here for a reason."

All eyes turned to him, with varying expressions. Ino's eyes smoldered in quiet anger, while those of the Hyuugas at the table remained blessedly unreadable. Naruto's expression was completely blank. For the most part, his guests were expectant. He cleared his throat. "I would like to start by making an apology." At that, Ino's expression changed dramatically. Her eyes seemed to find her plate very interesting, and Sasuke wasn't going to make her feel more uncomfortable by addressing her directly. "Three years ago, I made the mistake of betraying the village. But even though I'm sorry for that, I wanted to tell you that I'm more sorry to have caused pain for many of you here."

Chouji laughed, and Shikamaru leaned around his pudgy friend, addressing Sasuke. "Oi. None of us hold a _grudge_." Was it just him, or did Sasuke see the lazy jounin eye Ino pointedly? "Besides, you're back where you belong now, baka. So no more running off. I don't want to have to go after your ass again. That would throw my whole schedule off."

Across from him, Ino snorted. "What schedule would that be? Hanging around Tsunade-sama's office and sleeping on the roof of the Academy rather than training?" If Shikamaru had been more energetic, he'd have glared at her. But, being the loafing shinobi that he was, he settled on a lazy pout.

Neji's voice brought the conversation back to the topic at hand. "After the apology, what did you need to say?" The Hyuuga's gray kimono was unusually loose, covering his folded hands and revealing a hint of the mesh shirt beneath, just at his neck. Sasuke's first impression of this mode of dress was that it was calculated to make him seem smaller than he was. He eyed Sasuke, sizing him up. The glance didn't necessarily make him nervous, but he wasn't comfortable with the way that he was being looked at, in the least.

"The Sound Four never returned to report to Orochimaru. Neither did Kimmimaro. I've been told a little of what happened, but I wanted to hear it from you." He locked eyes with Neji, entering into something of a battle of wills. His distant cousin seemed to be trying to dig out his reasons for this by boring into this brain. Before he could become completely taken over by that feeling, he continued in a more subdued tone, "Would you like to start, Neji-san?"

A pounding farther down the table caught his attention, and he saw Chouji fixing him with a gaze that was unusually intense for him. "How about you let me start, since I fought the first guy?" Shikamaru cleared his throat behind Chouji. The hefty shinobi looked behind him, and at his friend's slightly annoyed expression, said apologetically, "Gomen. I think Shikamaru wants to say something."

The heir of the Nara clan stood, being oddly formal for him, and turned to Sasuke. "Before we tell you what happened, why don't you tell us _why _you came back?" All eyes swiveled from Shikamaru to Sasuke, making him feel not a little uncomfortable.

Instead, Sakura piped up, "I beat him up."

There was sniggering the whole way around the table, and Sasuke leaned over to her and whispered, "Sakura, darling, do me a favor." His voice was gentle and dangerous at the same time.

"Yes, dear?" She smiled in an overly-sweet way, which he knew was just as dangerous.

"Shut up." He kissed her cheek, and resumed his seat. She wore a slightly annoyed expression, and drummed her fingers on the table. Across from her, Neji shifted in his seat, slightly to his right. If she were going to hit Sasuke, he didn't want to be in the line of fire, apparently. Raising his voice so that the rest could hear, he said, "Yes, she did beat me up. But that's not why I came back. I'd been looking for a reason to, anyway. I figured out a while ago that Orochimaru was getting the better end of the deal. The whole thing was a fortunate coincidence. Sakura and Naruto were…in the neighborhood, and I jumped at the chance to come home." That answer didn't seem to satisfy Shikamaru.

"And the possibility of fighting Akatsuki and killing your brother had nothing to do with it?" The lazy genius smirked as he sat on his cushion, leaning back on his hands.

"I didn't say that, now, did I? I'm not stupid enough to try to pretend that it didn't affect my decision. What I will say is that even though it's part of my reason, it's not all of it. I have many reasons for returning. One of which is that Orochimaru is, was, and will be until the day he dies a complete bastard." He shifted in his seat, and the rest of them simply looked at him. He wondered when the real questions were going to start. When would they be asking for his other reasons? He didn't know if he was ready to discuss them. But, he was the one who called everyone here, so he supposed he should be the one to do the explaining if it came down to it.

Shikamaru, as perceptive as ever, only smiled. Sasuke could swear that his old classmate had developed the ability to read minds, because he knew exactly what that lazy smile meant. It meant that he would have a talk with him later, and there would be no holding back information to save his pride. The thought didn't really appeal to him. He recalled a conversation he'd had with Sakura on the way back to her house on the night they'd been attacked by Kabuto. She'd told him that of all of the members of the recovery team, Shikamaru carried the deepest scars.

He hadn't been hurt physically, at least other than a broken finger. But he was plagued by the guilt of being the team leader, and having every member other than himself nearly killed. Sakura had told him a little bit, though Naruto remained silent on the subject. There was no need to ask the man anything about their fight. He'd been there. He remembered very well every detail, every emotion. What he wanted to know was exactly how badly the rest of them had suffered.

Sasuke then turned his gaze to Chouji, waiting patiently for the man to begin. After a short description of how the group avoided being leeched to death, Chouji gave a gripping (although difficult to hear around all the food in his mouth) account of his fight. Sasuke's jaw kept hanging open. At one point, Sakura reached over and closed it for him. The entire time Chouji spoke, Sasuke could feel Ino's eyes on him, that insistent little tickle at the back of his mind. She was watching, gauging his reactions. He knew that she was the one who would need the most convincing.

For a moment, he looked over at Ino. She seemed to be measuring him in some way. Then, all too late, he realized what it was that she was doing. Her hands had formed her signature jutsu, but had done so on the table-top, so that it looked as if she'd only been fidgeting. The entire time, she'd been measuring the angle to his body from her hands. He felt like a complete moron. Then, a thoroughly uncomfortable feeling, like something very large trying to squeeze into his head through his eye sockets, came over him. He could hear her, feel her inside his head.

And there, in his head, she said, _Sasuke no baka, are you really sorry for what you did? You look like you are, but are you really? _Then he felt her rifling through his head.

He said mentally, _Get out of my head. _

_Nope. Gotta find out if you're really sorry. I'll only be a minute._ Ino continued her search, but then he felt her squirm in his head. _Holy shit! What the hell? Are you insane? _Ino had just found his memories connected to Orochimaru. There were things in there that even he had repressed, and that he surely didn't want to think about. He knew which one she was talking about, though. Orochimaru did not approve of using posts to train against, even when inventing new techniques. For every jutsu he taught Sasuke, his training was done on a living, breathing, and often screaming, human being.

_Ino. Ino? Are you alright? Ino, answer me!_ He was beginning to worry. All he heard in his head coming from her was a soft whimpering noise. _Ino, please. You should understand now why I wanted to come back…I hated it there. I was turning into something that I never wanted to be, just so that I could be strong enough to kill someone who was even worse than I was. I started not to care if I lived or died, Ino. I didn't care, just as long as Itachi died. I could die, too, or just sink into oblivion. It didn't matter. Then, one day, I looked into the eyes of the man I was going to be practicing on. I saw life, his life, before me. He had done nothing to me. I had no reason to kill him. He's still alive, Ino. I let him go. He's still alive. Sometimes, Ino, the path to true knowledge of yourself is through pain, and in my case, insanity._

_Sasuke, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. How do you stand living with all that pain? It's hurting me just being in here!_ He could feel her floating away, leaving his head. When he came to his senses, nearly everyone was staring at him. He'd been sitting there, staring at absolutely nothing, slack-jawed. The exception, of course, was Konohamaru, who was holding Ino's body, looking worried. She opened her eyes, and stared at him. Then, to his surprise, she rose shakily to her feet and walked over to him, her sky-blue kimono almost seeming to billow behind her.

There was no sound. No one moved. No one breathed. She knelt beside him, and put her arms gently around him, as a mother does to comfort a crying child. Pulling him into an embrace that reminded him so much of his mother that it frightened him, she whispered, "I forgive you," and then let him go. Then, she shuffled back over to her seat. Sakura was looking at him with the fires of ten different kinds of hell in her eyes, but at his expression, she stopped, and then looked at Ino. The blond kunoichi seemed as if she were about to cry, and Sasuke could relate. He hadn't thought about Orochimaru's "training dummies" for a while, since he'd refused to use them.

"G-Gomen," He stammered, "I lost myself there for a moment. Please, who was speaking?" Then, Kiba's voice filled the room, because he'd finished telling his part of the story, and Neji was on to his.

"Oi! Sasuke-teme, you—" Neji held up a hand to quiet him. Once again, the table was silent.

"Kiba-kun, please. Calm yourself. Sasuke explained what happened. Now, I think that's enough. We will come to you with this later, Sasuke. For now, let us enjoy the food that you, Sakura-chan and Hinata-sama have prepared." Voices were no longer heard, only the bustle of table-noises. For nearly twenty minutes, it went on this way. Then, Hanabi broke the silence.

"Sasuke-kun, about our mission today?"

Hinata giggled across the table from her sister. Sasuke merely smiled. "Yes? I believe it _was_ you who returned first, Hanabi. Collect your prize." The girl looked around the table. She seemed to size up everyone from Konohamaru on down. Finally, as her eyes settled on the man seated next to her, she smiled. There is a saying in Konoha.

_A smile is worth a thousand words. The smile of a Hyuuga, only one: fear._

This is an old saying, one that is meant to illustrate the terrifying power of the clan. Now, the Hyuuga smile more, with people like Hanabi and her sister around, but then again, there were times when the old saying still applied. Judging from Naruto's eyes, he understood the saying all too well. Sasuke looked at Neji, who merely shrugged.

"What prize?" Kiba asked.

"I told Konohamaru, Moegi and Hanabi that whoever got back with their portion of the supplies first would get to spar with whoever they wanted. Apparently, she chose Naruto." At that, Kiba burst into peals of laughter. He leaned back on Akamaru, who made a large dog-grunt at the sudden pressure against his ribs.

"Oh, no!" Naruto raised his hands in front of him, shaking them as if to ward off the situation. "I'm not sparring with _her!_"

"Chicken?" Hanabi said in a quietly mocking tone. Neji snorted laughter next to Sasuke. Sasuke stared. He couldn't remember ever hearing the man laugh before.

"I am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too…You're scared to fight me." It was not a question, or even a suggestion. It was something that the girl knew in the pit of her stomach to be true. He fidgeted under her intense stare. "It's too bad. I was hoping to see how you'd improved since your lucky win against my cousin. Oh, well. I guess my second choice would—"

"Ooooh, no you don't. You're not gonna treat me like some dead-last chicken. I'll fight you." He looked over at Hinata. "Just make sure I don't hurt her too bad, ok?" From the look on Hinata's face, you'd think he had told her the sky was purple. She was not concerned for her sister's well being. She was, very obviously, concerned for his.

"Naruto-kun, please. Don't antagonize her. She's a little scary when she gets angry." Hinata said, putting a hand on his arm. He looked down at her hand, and blushed slightly. When she didn't remove it, his blush increased. Sasuke seemed to remember her lurking in the shadows, following Naruto around. She had seemed to blend into the walls, trying to avoid notice of everyone. Now, at least, she was a bit more assertive, but it looked like the tables had been turned. Naruto was now as red as Moegi's kimono.

Sasuke decided to change the subject, if for no other reason than to have his friend gain a little more composure. "Hanabi, you and Naruto will spar tomorrow night. Tonight is for rest. Now, please, eat, and we can all catch up."

The rest of the evening was spent in almost-merriment. They talked, laughed, and Sasuke was filled in on many details of people's lives over the past four and a half years. He'd found out about everything from Asuma's disastrous engagement to Anko, and Konohamaru's exploits with Kurenai and his team, to Shikamaru dating Temari. Not that it surprised him at all on any of those subjects. While he could see Anko killing Asuma as soon as looking at him, he had a hard time imagining the two of them having a civil conversation, let alone getting engaged. Shikamaru and Temari's relationship seemed to suit the lethargic man just fine. He saw her occasionally, wrote her letters, and no one went within five hundred meters of his apartment when she came to visit, for fear of catching a stray shiruken, or hearing something they might gain permanent mental scars from. And Konohamaru? Well, he was as always, himself.

--

They were all laughing. All of them. A dark presence, cloaked in a rumor, and wrapped in shadow, lingered outside the dining room window of the Uchiha main house. There were wards on every door, window, and even the little drafty places in some of the corners. Getting into the house was impossible. But the Uchiha had to come out some time, didn't he? The presence vanished, for now. It could wait. For just a little while longer, it could certainly wait.

* * *

**A/N:** I know, there's no action. But now, we've gotten rid of Ino's attitude problem, at least. We can also look forward, in the next chapter, to Naruto possibly getting his butt handed to him by a genin. A GIRL genin. Boy, he won't be happy about that, if she does end up kicking him into the ground. And ooooooh, who's outside the window, without the night shift ANBU noticing? Well, let's just say that it isn't the Easter Bunny.  



	10. Of Spars, Seals and Scars

**A/N:** Wow. This one took a while. I wanted it to be nice and long, since I haven't updated in a bit. So...for this chapter, we've got some unusual occurrences. Hinata OOC, but it's explained by Sasuke, who also makes an attempt at explaining his OOCness, and we've also got Naruto fighting Hanabi, as well as everyone fighting everyone else, and everyone being OOC, but when you read it, you'll see how fun it is, really. In spite of the time it took, this chapter was actually fun to write. I hope you have as much fun reading it. Oh, and for my reviewers who said there was a little too much dialogue in the last chapter, I totally agree. That's why there are 2 (not one, but 2!) fight scenes in this chapter! I have to practice with writing them, since the chuunin exams are only what, two days away, now? And, our shadowy figure makes another appearance. What the devil is he up to?

**Legal Stuffiness:** I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**Time:** 4.5 years after Sasuke's departure 

**Place: **Konoha, Uchiha Compound

**Mission:** Sparring, Gardening, Surviving seals, Celebration.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Of Spars, Seals and Scars**

Sasuke knelt in the courtyard garden of the main house. He felt like taking the day off from training. He told Moegi and Konohamaru to do the same, and Hinata insisted in the boy's case, since she needed to check his dressings and make sure that everything was healing as it should. As he dug his hands into the earth, he thought back to his first few missions as a genin. He'd been doing exactly what he was at the moment. Weeding. If he was to live here, he wanted this place to look just as his mother had kept it. As a boy, he had thought his mother's garden was paradise. He thought it was Heaven. Sasuke had found all of his mother's gardening tools, and brought out a few of them. He hadn't used any of them yet, preferring to feel the black dirt on his hands. It was cool, and comforting. His little patch of cleared ground steadily grew larger over the course of the day, and he felt rather satisfied with himself when he finished.

He had a large bucket that he kept emptying into the compost heap, but decided to burn the weeds later. Now, he looked to the black earth. What should he plant? There was already a chestnut tree in the yard, which he loved. The paths were all flagstones and small rocks, and he had salted the cracks so that the weeds wouldn't creep into them. As he stared around him, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he found Hinata.

"Sasuke-kun, it looks nice. You've been working hard." She handed him a towel, and when he had used it to wipe his face and hands, a cup of tea, as well.

"Arigato, Hinata-chan." He took the cup gratefully.

"Sakura-chan was here. I showed her into the garden, but she didn't want to disturb you." Hinata's smile was turning into a grin. "She said you looked like you could use the time to yourself." He nodded. Sounded like Sakura. Even if she teased you endlessly, she did seem to know when to stop, when to leave you alone. She knew when he needed to think, as well.

"Oh, and Sasuke-kun…Hanabi and Naruto-kun are fighting now." His eyes widened.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Lead on!" He thought it might be amusing to see Naruto fight another Hyuuga. Having only sparred with Hinata himself, he knew that she was the most passive of the three youngest of that family, but she was no slouch. Neji was a genius, and Hinata the next leader of the clan. Hanabi had nothing to lose, and everything to prove. _Reminds me of Naruto, in a way._ Perhaps the girl sensed a kindred spirit in his friend. Whatever the case, it would be an interesting fight.

As they neared the back yard, he felt the air crackling with the amount of chakra being used. His eyes widened when they came out onto the lawn. Hanabi's chakra flared, and she spun, but she was not using the _Kaiten_, as her cousin did. It was more like a cyclone, less predictable, and infinitely more unstable. Naruto eyed her closely, warily inching to the left, then to the right. He was concentrating his chakra into his feet, waiting to pounce.

In the half-light of early evening, Naruto's ANBU mask, now pulled up on top of his head, glowed dully. Sasuke could feel Hinata tense up next to him. He patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan. He won't get hurt. Even if his body gets a little banged up, his head is too hard to let him get too hurt. He's just too stubborn to die." Hinata nodded slowly, and they watched.

Hanabi's attack swerved to the right, and moved toward the ANBU captain with lightening speed. At the very last moment, Naruto sprang into the air, his chakra having given him an extra boost. He performed a perfect swan-dive into the top of Hanabi's chakra formation. When he got inside, he took her utterly by surprise, stopping her spin. She stood there, frowning, eyeing him as he strolled easily back to a safe distance. She didn't look happy. That would be the equivalent of someone simply breaking through Neji's 'ultimate defense,' even though Hanabi's was not a defense, but an offensive technique.

"That was pretty impressive, kid." Naruto smiled kindly at the girl.

Hanabi was very unlike her stoic cousin and her almost-meek sister. She was a complete hothead. And at twelve-and-a-half years old ('the half counts, damn it!'), she loathed being treated like a child. "Are you going easy on me, Naruto-san?" His smile was calculatedly insolent, and she took the bait. She ran toward him, but found quickly that attacking him head-on was not an idea that she should pursue. Four other Narutos were suddenly standing there, and she could not, even with the _Byakagun_, tell the difference between them.

The girl growled in frustration. "Don't worry, kid," all five Narutos intoned, "We won't hurt you that bad." All five of them winked conspiratorially at her, and she lost it.

The girl said, "You're in my field. Get ready." Sasuke saw Naruto's face, and was sure he knew exactly what the girl meant. His eyes had narrowed, and his posture tensed (that is to say that all of the Narutos tensed). Hanabi's stance altered into one usually only used by Neji, and Sasuke saw Hinata's eyes narrowing. She was not pleased about this. The younger of the two was now moving toward the group of Narutos, applying Neji's 'sixty-four hands' technique to every last one of the Narutos all at once. She did not stop until all of the clones were gone. The only Naruto who had been able to dodge was obviously the real one, and she then went after him.

Naruto had apparently sparred more than once with Neji. He knew this technique well, and avoided it with ease. Sasuke could not say with confidence that he could do the same. The Hyuuga's movements, after a moment, began to change, becoming a form of oddly controlled chaos. Naruto's dodging adjusted to match it, and after having taken two hits to one arm and one leg respectively, he seemed ready to end it. He used a move that Moegi had used on Sasuke: the shoulder-vault and slide. Once he was in position, he used his legs to knock the girl to the ground. After pinning her to the ground, he smiled down at her.

"You are definitely a credit to your family, Hanabi-chan. I would say, well done. For your age, your _Hakke_ field is quite large." The girl's eyes narrowed. Then she pushed him off of her.

"What the hell would you know about it?" Her tone was quiet and dangerous. From out of nowhere, Neji appeared. She simply glared at him, and he said nothing. Walking past him, she went into the house.

"Well, that was interesting." Kotetsu said. He looked over at Neji. "Your cousin has an attitude problem."

Holding his hands up defensively, Neji shook his head, then pointed at Hinata. "That's her job. I'm just a lowly ANBU captain." He kept his face straight, but they could all hear the amusement in his voice, especially when Hinata's brows drew down in frustration, which was a nearly alien expression on her. Naruto sat on the ground where he landed when the girl threw him off of her. He was shaking his head, looking up at the darkening sky. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand up.

"Inside. Now. Everyone." No one questioned. They all ran into the house, and sealed the back door.

"What _was_ that?" Neji was rubbing his arms to rid himself of goosebumps.

Naruto swallowed, his throat having gone bone dry. "I don't know. But whatever it is, Kyuubi doesn't like it." His hand absently stroked his abdomen, where the seal lay. Sasuke twitched. His neck was itching. _Oh, hell._ The itching began to build up slowly, then faster, becoming a burning sensation.

"Hmn." Sasuke groaned quietly, his hand automatically moving up to his neck. It suddenly felt as if someone were stabbing him with a red-hot knife. His breathing stopped, and he swayed. When he did catch a breath, he reached out for the wall to lean on, but missed. As he fell to the ground, he heard a gasp, but he didn't know if it was his or someone else's. Now lying on his back, his vision began to blur. Naruto's voice was like a dull buzz in the back of his head, asking if he was alright, and He was vaguely aware of Hinata kneeling at his side.

* * *

"Naruto-kun, we have to get help. He's going into shock." Hinata's voice was tight, and he could tell she was panicking. Her hands had started trembling when she pulled back the collar of Sasuke's dark shirt. The seal was turning red.

Naruto's eyes grew wide. It had been a very long time since he'd seen this happen. He wanted to go and get Shizune, or the Godaime, but leaving at this point, with whatever it was outside would not be smart. It was really stupid, actually. That meant that only one person was fit to do it. "I'll go, Hinata-chan." His voice hid the anxiety he felt, as well as the squirming angry ball of nerves that was the Kyuubi in the back of his mind. She glanced over at him.

"What's out there, Naruto-kun?" She asked, apparently unconvinced that he would be safe.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling it's something to do with Orochimaru." Why else would both Kyuubi and Sasuke's seal be acting up at the very same time? Not to mention the fact that Neji felt something too. That man seemed to have a sixth sense for trouble, no matter what form it took. So, Naruto trusted that. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A hand seal later, Naruto's sleeping jutsu had sunk into his friend, easing his pain at least. He moved toward the door, but felt a hand on his arm.

Turning, he saw Hinata's anxious face. "Please be careful, Naruto."

"You know me, Hinata-chan. I'll be fine. I'm too stubborn to die, remember?" She smiled at that, which was what he was aiming for. "I'll be back soon with Shizune-san." Before walking to the door, he brushed a light kiss against her cheek. He wasn't even sure why he did it, but it felt right. That was a thought for another time. Right now, he had something he should be doing. Once he pulled his mask down, he headed out the door, calling behind him for Hinata to re-seal the door.

He made his way toward the hospital, and as he did, he kept seeing shadows in the corners of his eyes, and he couldn't shake them. When he turned his head to see them, though, they were gone. While he could not dismiss them as figments of his imagination, he also could not dwell on them. Sasuke's life could be in danger.

* * *

"Get me two cloths soaked in cold water, and a large bowl filled with ice water. We have to bring his fever down." Hinata looked to Moegi and Konohamaru. The two young genin had haunted looks in their eyes, and for a moment only stood there. "That's an order!" Hinata's voice rose to a near shout. That got their attention. Both genin rushed into the kitchen, retrieving the items she asked for. Trying to compose herself, she said, "Hold on, Sasuke. Hold on. Naruto and Shizune will be here soon. Just hold on."

The Uchiha was tossing and turning in his sleep. She had his head in her lap, and was using one of her legs to hold his torso still, wile Kotetsu held his legs. This was frightening. Hinata touched the seal. It was very hot, almost burning her fingers. That was where the fever began, like an infection that spreads from a wound. Momentarily, the genin brought in the towels and ice water. One of the towels she placed on his forehead, and the other she put ice in and placed it over the seal. There was a slight noise, almost a hiss, as the cool cloth touched it. Hinata bit her lower lip. This really wasn't working, and she knew it, but there wasn't much else she could do.

Sasuke gave a violent lurch, and nearly dislodged himself from Hinata's grip. Kotetsu planted a foot onto his stomach, stilling him. There was a knock at the door. It was soft, but insistent. That was certainly not Naruto. If it had been, he would be banging on the door and yelling for them to let him in. Kotetsu looked over at her, and she shook her head. The knocking persisted. Before he could move, she held up a hand. She signed at him, _Let me. I'll be able to see through the door and any disguises._ After the ANBU nodded, she walked quietly to the door, and activated her _Byakagun_. As she peered through the door, she was taken aback at what she saw.

Standing there, waiting to be let in, was Uchiha Itachi. "Go away, Itachi. We won't be letting you in."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." Hinata's voice was stony. She was not one to back down from this man, even though she knew he could snap her in half like a twig. It was simply not in her nature any longer. With the nearly 360 degree vision of her _Byakagun_, she saw Kotetsu's eyes widen, and a small smile spread over Neji's face. She was glad to make her cousin proud of her. Her new-found obstinacy faltered a moment later when Itachi continued to speak.

"Even if I can help him?"

Hinata's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that he's my brother. If anyone's going to kill him, it's going to be me. I explained that to Uzumaki already. The seal that Orochimaru put on him is killing him, slowly but surely. I can remove it." Itachi simply stared impassively at the smooth surface of the door. Hinata watched him for a moment, then turned to Kotetsu. He merely shrugged. She knew that if it were up to him, he would not let him in, and wait for Shizune and Naruto. But, as persistent as the man was, he may not want to let the others past to get to Sasuke. Then, Itachi said something that settled her decision. "If you don't let me help him, he will die, no matter what you do." Hinata broke the seal on the door and slid it open.

She could hardly believe what she was doing. Hinata stepped aside, allowing him in the door. No one breathed as he walked swiftly across the room. He crooked a finger at Kotetsu. When the dark-haired ANBU approached him warily, he said, "Keep everyone at least six meters away." The other man nodded, and herded everyone into the far corner of the room, standing in front of them with Shino, Neji, Tenten, and Kiba.

Itachi gripped Sasuke's shoulders and rolled him over onto his stomach. Hinata watched as he pulled a kunai from his coat. The blade sliced through the fabric of Sasuke's shirt, leaving the flesh around the seal exposed. The elder Uchiha's eyes closed. He seemed to meditate for a moment, then put a hand to the seal, and shook his head. One more deep breath, and he opened his eyes. They were black. He had released the _Sharingan_. It was then that Hinata became aware of how much chakra this was going to take. He may drain himself. She knew from speaking with Kakashi that Itachi was nearly blind without the _Sharingan_, because of his use of the _Mangekyo Sharingan_.

Perhaps that was why he felt for the seal. Hinata could feel him gathering his chakra from eighteen feet away. He would burn himself out, surely. No one could have that much chakra to use. This would even be pushing Naruto's limits. Then, his hands flew and blurred through a series of nearly twenty seals, his eyes fluttering shut. When his hands parted, there was a glowing ball of pure blue chakra between them. He pushed this ball into the seal, and it sank into Sasuke's skin, causing it glow slightly. Hinata gasped as she watched black chakra seep out from where the seal was. It dissipated in the air, like steam. It seemed to be coming from all parts of Sasuke's body. She could see it flowing though all of his chakra pathways, always toward the seal, almost as if Itachi's jutsu was sucking a poison out of his brother's system.

Finally, as the last of the blackness left him, the only proof that the seal had ever been there was that there were burns left in the same pattern. Itachi stood. He walked over to where Hinata stood, and smiled slightly. "He needs rest. And food. Wake him up as soon as possible." Then, he simply walked out of the door. Closing it behind himself. Hinata blinked. Kotetsu rushed to the door and re-sealed it.

Suddenly, Hinata felt sick. She had let an S-class felon into Sasuke's house. However guilty she felt, she did as Itachi said. From her pouch, she drew a small vial of smelling salts. After letting it rest near his nose, he woke up, sputtering at the smell.

"What the hell just happened?" His hand shot to where his seal used to be. Sasuke's eyes widened. "It…it's gone. Did you—"

Hinata lowered her eyes. Shame filled her as she said, "It wasn't me. It was…it was your brother." Sasuke blinked. When Hinata looked up at him, there was a look of disbelief on his face, but there was also the tiniest of smiles. "We're supposed to make you eat something." The young man nodded, pulling himself to his feet.

* * *

Shizune waited outside of the Uchiha main house with Naruto, who banged on the door repeatedly. After nearly five minutes, and Naruto yelling his head off, Neji came and let them in. The stoic ANBU captain smiled a little at them. "Come in, I'm sure you'll need to check on the invalid." She wondered at the man's composure. Surely, he would have more concern for someone in such a serious condition? After being ushered into the house, Shizune followed Neji into the kitchen, where she found Sasuke sitting at the kitchen table, devouring a bowl of instant noodles. "What in the world is—" She started, but then saw his shirt ripped open, and simply stared. It was gone. The curse seal was gone, and there was nothing left but a pink burn scar.

Just then, Naruto came in behind her and peeked around her shoulder. "Sasuke-teme! Were you faking, or what?"

A slightly amused and very Uchiha-like smile slid over Sasuke's lips. "Dobe. I'm fine. Look." His finger pointed to his neck. If it were possible, Naruto's jaw would have hit the floor. However, since human bodies can't do that, he only stared openmouthed. Shizune held up a hand for silence, and gave Sasuke the 'you-better-damned-well-explain-this-right-now-or-I'll-punch-your-face-in' look that only Naruto had really gotten before. However, before he could say anything, Hinata came forward, and pushed his face toward his noodles.

"Eat, Sasuke-kun." When he had returned to his food, the Hyuuga faced Shizune. "I am to blame. Uchiha Itachi was here, and I let him in. He removed the seal, and left." Shizune coughed. Was it possible? Had Sasuke's brother saved him? Why? She supposed that those were questions for another time. Shizune listened to the explanation of what happened, and nodded.

The medic-nin shook her head. "You are not to blame, Hinata. Itachi did this out of a genuine desire to help his brother, even if it was so that he could kill him later. For that, we must be grateful." Hinata's eyes seemed happier, but the rest of her face was still full of anxiety. There was a long moment of silence in the kitchen broken only by Sasuke's slurping of his noodles.

"Oi! Hinata-chan, cheer up! Sasuke no baka is ok now! We don't have to worry about him collapsing or turning into a psycho anymore. This is cause for celebration, ne?" Naruto's loud and exuberant voice filled the kitchen, and as usual, had the desired effect of lightening everyone's mood. Shizune smacked him on the side of the head, and his ANBU mask went flying. Hinata caught it and handed it back to him. "Arigato, Hinata-chan." He turned to his best friend. "What do you think, Sasuke? Should we have a little celebration now that you're seal-free?"

When Sasuke finished slurping down the juice from his ramen, he turned to Naruto. "You sure you want to party? Isn't whatever it was still out there?"

"Of course it is. But we'll take one thing at a time." That's what Shizune loved about Naruto. He might seem like a complete moron most of the time, but every so often, he had a good point to make. He rubbed his hands together. "So, how should we commemorate this joyous occasion?"

For the first time since he answered the door, Neji spoke. "Sake, anyone?" This surprised Shizune, as she had never seen him drink a drop of anything stronger than green tea. He pulled out a large bottle of sake from a cabinet at the back of the kitchen, and looked to Sasuke. The master of the house nodded, and smiled. They all returned to the living room, and sat in a circle in the middle of the floor. Hinata prepared tea for the younger genin, and retrieved cups for the older shinobi to have a special toast.

* * *

It felt strange. His body, though he had not used the seal for some time, had not felt clean or healthy for the last few years. After Hinata poured the sake for all of the adults, they each took a cup. Tea and sake were raised, and they all looked to Sasuke. After taking a deep breath of consideration, he said, "To being clean and whole, and to my brother. May he find peace." There was some hesitation at that last, but only for an instant. Then, everyone drained their cups, and set them down. Sasuke collected the sake and cups, then helped Hinata prepare tea for everyone who didn't already have some.

While they were in the kitchen, Hinata was avoiding his eyes. He put a hand on her arm. "Hinata, it's all right. You did what needed to be done. I wanted to thank you." She looked up at him, and smiled faintly. He gave her hand a squeeze, and a mischievous smile emerged on his face. "Now, if you can straighten Naruto out, we'll all be fine." Her face turned so red, he could not help but laugh. "Hinata, now what's that look? You can't fool me. I'm quite observant, you know."

"Sasuke-kun, I have no idea what you're talking about." Her face had gone blank, except for the barest hint of a curving of her lips. She was trying not to smile. He felt a certain kinship to her, but he supposed that it was only natural. They were, in a way, distant cousins. But it wasn't that. She had become something more than she had been, just as he was. Where she used to be so very timid, she was now much braver. He was, not that long ago, a cold and heartless bastard. Now, as he reflected on his life for a small moment, he realized that he was probably still a bastard, but not quite so cold.

"Hey, Hinata?"

"What, Sasuke-kun?"

Before she could fully turn to look at him from putting the tea to steep, he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight headlock, then gave her a rather large noogie. When he let her go, she frowned while trying to put her hair back the way it had been. "You know the only reason why I didn't hit you just now is because you're recovering from your seal, right?" He nodded gravely. "Good. As long as we understand one another. For a moment there, I thought you were channeling Kiba."

Once they sat down with everyone to have tea, Sasuke kept making subtle glances over at Naruto. The blond shinobi was watching him, as well, trying to figure out for himself if it really was true, in spite of his happy exterior. Sasuke used his best uncaring expression to ward off any questions. Soon, he was leaning back on his elbows, quite relaxed. Instead of questions, he got a pillow in the face. Once he'd removed the fluffy missile from where it had landed, he looked around for the guilty party. No one betrayed any kind of sign that they'd thrown it.

Then, off to the side, he saw Sonora. It was hard to see behind her Aburame coat, but she wore a very slight smile. Then, he saw Shino look over at her. That did it. He jumped at her, and used the pillow to break his fall as he landed right in her lap. "Now, Sonora-chan, that wasn't very nice." He smiled evilly. "How long have you been hiding your prankster tendencies?"

"She never really hides them, Sasuke." Shino's voice was deep and amused. "Just hides herself. That way, no one really knows what's going on, and it's that much funnier when she watches them."

"Pretty clever. But not clever enough." He used the pillow to bash her on the side of her head, albeit rather gently, since he used a pillow. Then, the living room suddenly erupted in a massive pillow-fight, with the genin being the most vicious of the attackers. However, Sasuke, Hanabi, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Sonora soon found themselves surrounded. "Konohamaru, I could really use that jutsu of yours right about now." Sasuke said in mock trepidation.

"Feh. Like I'd teach it to you right now. Kotetsu's about to clobber me!" The boy ducked, and rolled away as said ANBU member's pillow hit the person standing next to where he was instead of him. This sent Sonora flying into her cousin, and Shino caught her easily. Konohamaru's pillow bashed Naruto's backside, knocking him off balance, and sending him sprawling onto the floor, but not before he took Hinata down with him.

The fighting stopped for an instant and they took that brief time to see Naruto turn ten shades of red. The fighting resumed soon after, with renewed vigor, everyone ignoring the two people on the floor who were both too mortified at the position they'd fallen in to move. Naruto had, in an attempt to stay upright, grabbed at the person nearest him, and fallen onto his back. What he had actually taken hold of was the sleeve of Hinata's jacket. She had turned, mid-fall, to ensure that she didn't fall badly, but in the process had ended up in a very awkward position: sprawled over Naruto with her jacked halfway unzipped, exposing a lot of mesh shirt and much of what was under it.

Naruto quickly sat up, and shielded Hinata as she zipped her jacket. Surprisingly, she had only blushed a little. All this, Sasuke saw between ducking and dodging pillows swung by Shizune and Kiba, then hitting Neji and running so that he thought Shizune had done it, which got the woman off of him. Her accuracy was deadly.

* * *

Orochimaru would not be pleased. The brother had taken away the seal. It seemed that both of the Uchiha were going to have to die, now. The dark figure that stood near a lighted window smiled. It didn't matter how many he had to kill. So long as his master was happy, that's all that he cared about. At the moment, he had to find a way to kill them. It would be difficult to get the younger Uchiha alone, with all of the people who now surrounded him. But, he was still recovering from what the elder had done. The boy would not be up to full strength for at least another day. He had time. The elder of the two presented a larger problem. He had those eyes…

* * *

**A/N:** Pillow-fights are good shinobi training, ne? I just had to do it. Sonora is actually a pretty interesting character, here in my head. I just needed to bring her out. I'm hoping to have more of her in the next few chapters. She'll be testing for chuunin, as well. Oh, and if you thinkShino's got creepy bug tricks, wait until you see hers. (shivers...damned bugs). 


	11. A New Darkness

**A/N:** Whew. Chapter 11 is done! Finally. I've been busy...of course, school stuff. But, I got in a bit of writing over the last week, and here's what I came up with! Warnings? Well, maybe just a few. 1) Sasuke has a sense of humor (oh, no! he couldn't possibly! yes he can!) and therefore, his OOCness continues. 2) Naruto has a working relationship with Kyuubi! (WTF? yeah, I thought the same thing when I came up with the idea, but really, after so long, I think they'd get used to one another. that's not to say that the Kyuubi is actually _happy_ being cooped up in Naruto's body...) 3) Enter that strange and dark figure again... I'm sure that there are other things that I could tell you, but I have to get started with my course work.

**Legal Stuffiness:** I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters therein. Kishimoto Masashi, sole proprietor, and he owns my soul.

* * *

**Last time...**

The fighting stopped for an instant and they took that brief time to see Naruto turn ten shades of red. The fighting resumed soon after, with renewed vigor, everyone ignoring the two people on the floor who were both too mortified at the position they'd fallen in to move. Naruto had, in an attempt to stay upright, grabbed at the person nearest him, and fallen onto his back. What he had actually taken hold of was the sleeve of Hinata's jacket. She had turned, mid-fall, to ensure that she didn't fall badly, but in the process had ended up in a very awkward position: sprawled over Naruto with her jacked halfway unzipped, exposing a lot of mesh shirt and much of what was under it.

Naruto quickly sat up, and shielded Hinata as she zipped her jacket. Surprisingly, she had only blushed a little. All this, Sasuke saw between ducking and dodging pillows swung by Shizune and Kiba, then hitting Neji and running so that he thought Shizune had done it, which got the woman off of him. Her accuracy was deadly.

* * *

Orochimaru would not be pleased. The brother had taken away the seal. It seemed that both of the Uchiha were going to have to die, now. The dark figure that stood near a lighted window smiled. It didn't matter how many he had to kill. So long as his master was happy, that's all that he cared about. At the moment, he had to find a way to kill them. It would be difficult to get the younger Uchiha alone, with all of the people who now surrounded him. But, he was still recovering from what the elder had done. The boy would not be up to full strength for at least another day. He had time. The elder of the two presented a larger problem. He had those eyes…

* * *

**Prodigal Uchiha

* * *

Chapter 11:** A New Darkness

Sakura sighed. "Kabuto, is there anything else you need to tell me?" He shook his head. "Are you sure? I mean, I can't ever be certain that you're being honest with me." He assured her that he was being completely honest. This was rather boring. She'd beaten up on him, threatened him, and used various forms of genjutsu and torture. This simply wasn't her thing. Let Neji interrogate people. He seemed to enjoy it. She was just tired. Maybe if she asked him some off-the-wall questions, then he might be caught off-guard and tell her something he didn't want to? Hell, it might even be entertaining.

"Why did you go to work for Orochimaru?"

Kabuto eyed her suspiciously. "Because I wanted to. I hate Konoha and everything it stands for." That was simple enough, and straightforward. And definitely not a lie.

"Ok. What is your favorite food?"

"Huh? What does that have to do with anything?" At a warning look from Sakura, he said in a defeated tone, "Smoked tuna rolls." Again, straightforward. What did she have to say to knock him off-blance?

In an exasperatedly off-handed way, she said, "Are you gay?" She said it jokingly, really. Sakura had simply been running out of ideas. But then again, there was a look in his eyes that told her something was up. "Kabuto?"

"What did he tell you?"

"Uh, nothing. Honestly, that question was a joke. What did you do?" He clammed up. Now that was interesting. Sakura took off his glasses and set them on the table. "Now," she said after taking up a red-hot kunai, "Tell me. What did you do?" The tip of the thing glowed as it neared Kabuto's left eye. He began to tremble. When the point was no more than a hair's breadth from his eye, he broke.

"Fine." His eyes flicked to her face. "I kissed him. You happy? I thought there were rules against this sort of thing." She raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought that you were only allowed to extract pertinent information." Her head tilted to one side, and then she knelt in front of him.

"When's the last time you were hurt and couldn't use your regeneration techniques?" Her voice was calm and dangerous.

"About eight years ago."

"Well," she said, with her calm never wavering, "I suppose that you'll just have to get used to the pain." With that, she pressed the hot metal to his forearm, the sizzle of burning flesh filling the room. His mouth and eyes both widened in shock. Sakura knew she was being vindictive, but she couldn't help it. Her hand caught Kabuto's chin, and forced him to look her in the eyes. "That's for kissing Sasuke." Then, she kicked him in the crotch. "And that is for betraying the village." Huffing softly, she dropped the kunai into a bucket of cool water and left the room. That had been nearly pointless. But then again, she discovered something about herself. She had done something quite cruel, and it had felt very, very good.

* * *

"Hinata-chan?" The young Hyuuga woman looked up, and smiled when she saw Sakura. "Ohayo, Hinata. How is everyone? Are they nervous? First exam is tomorrow." She had just finished giving her report to Tsunade, and had the rest of the day off. Hinata stood from her seat on the front porch of the house. She had taken the week off from teaching the little kunoichis, to help Sasuke's team train, and get the house in order for her distant cousin. Sakura felt a little twinge of guilt that she'd been so busy. She felt that it was her job to do those things, not Hinata's. She felt like she was inconveniencing her friend. 

In a quiet voice, Hinata said, "They're fine. The last couple of days, they've been resting." Sakura raised a questioning eyebrow. _Sasuke, rest? _She suddenly wondered what was going on. He never rested unless it was absolutely necessary, and even with all of the changes that he had obviously gone through, she was sure that that was at least one of the few things that had stayed the same.

"Has anything happened? It isn't like him to rest this close to an important exam."

Hinata shook her head. "It isn't my place to say anything about that. I'll take you to Sasuke. He's been in the garden since dawn." She followed Hinata through the house to the large courtyard garden. She blinked in surprise. The last time she had seen this place, it had been full of weeds. Now, the black earth was visible, and there were new little plants everywhere. Over near the tree, there were banks of violets, to grow in the shade. Other flowering plants were scattered around, but it seemed that Sasuke had developed a fondness for different kinds of climbing vines. There were small structures erected to allow vines to twist around, traveling slowly skyward. Several types of ornamental grasses bordered the pathways in some places as well.

In the middle of it all was Sasuke. He was on his knees in the dirt, his shirt thrown aside, a light sheen of sweat over his skin. It appeared that he had opted to twist his hair into a messy top-knot to keep it off of his shoulders. Hinata left with a soft goodbye, and Sakura stood watching him for a moment. Something seemed different about him. The stiffness and tension in his movements was gone. He seemed relaxed, but was that it? As she walked over to where he was, she saw it. His curse seal was gone. In its place was a scar in the same shape, but the seal itself was completely absent. Her feet crunched on the stones of the path, and he looked around. When Sasuke saw her, he smiled. It wasn't his old smirking smile, but a genuine easy and open one that fit his face well.

He rose, brushing his hands off on his pants. "Ohayo, Sakura."

"Ohayo, Sasuke. Your garden is beautiful." He smiled happily. It was obvious that he loved the work. She could not remember a time when he seemed so at ease. It might have been the fact that he was home, or that his seal was gone, or that all of his friends were around him, or all of those things. Or none. She just wasn't sure what had him looking so content.

He took a few steps toward her, coming to rest less than a foot away. "I missed you." Sasuke said simply, his voice calm and deep. He brushed a stray hair from her face. In spite of her shock at his open expression of affection, she smiled up at him, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"I missed you too, Sasuke." She made a face. "I just got finished interrogating Kabuto. Ugh. I hate interrogations. Got some interesting information out of him, though." Sakura looked at the flowers nearby, allowing her voice to trail off, as if she hadn't really quite finished speaking. When she looked back at him, he had one eyebrow raised.

"And what would that be?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh, it isn't that important. But it _is_ interesting…" She kept her face straight, and her voice level, without even the merest hint of amusement. This was quite a feat, since she felt the giggles bubbling up in her stomach, waiting to be released.

"What did he tell you?" His eyes narrowed, voice suspicious.

Squinting her eyes at him, she said, "He told me that you kissed him." Oh, that _was_ difficult. How she didn't laugh, she had no idea. His jaw fell open and he blinked repeatedly. This only lasted for a moment, since he recovered quickly, anger slithering over his features.

"Oh, no. _He _kissed _me._ Not the other way around. That lying jackass…just wait until I get my hands—" She couldn't hold it in any longer. Her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground, laughing so hard that she couldn't breathe. The rocks from the path were digging into her knees, but she didn't really feel them. What she did feel was Sasuke picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

She suddenly stopped laughing. "W-what are you doing, Sasuke?"

"Teaching you a lesson." His voice held more amusement than it should for that statement. He walked through the house to the back yard, and to the pond, then out onto the dock. When she realized what he was going to do, she started to struggle. His grip was like steel, and she couldn't get free. After a moment, he paused, and said, "Stop struggling, Sakura, and take your punishment." Grudgingly, she went limp. Then, he tossed her into the pond.

She hit the water before she was able to gather chakra to her feet and land on the surface of the pond. After the initial splash, she came up sputtering and cursing. "Damn it, Sasuke! It was a joke!" She huffed and slapped at the water, splashing in irritation. "Now all of my kunai and shiruken are wet. My scrolls, too."

"Ooops." He was still rather amused when she hauled herself up onto the planking of the dock. With a sardonic grin, she unzipped her chuunin vest and pulled it off. After squeezing as much water out of it as she could, she laid it out to dry. She did the same for the rest of her uniform, not really noticing the surprised look on Sasuke's face. She did see it when she turned around, though. On an impulse, she decided that revenge sounded really nice.

"You know," she said, sauntering over to Sasuke and supressing a smile at the uncomfortable expression on his face, "I think you need a bath." She tackled him and they both landed in the water with a splash. When they resurfaced, she laughed. "Ha! Revenge is mine!" He glared at her after blinking the water out of his eyes. His hair had come out of his top-knot, and was now plastered wetly in messy tangles all over his head, especially his face. Sasuke dove under the water, and came back up, face now clear of hair.

"I suppose you think you're pretty clever?" She nodded, smiling and trying hard not to laugh at him. He looked like a sulky five-year-old. "We'll see about that." He started swimming back to the dock, but suddenly dove under the water, and Sakura's eyes narrowed. What was he up to? She found that out quickly enough. His hands closed on her ankles, and pulled her under. Without the chance to take a breath before going under, she began to panic, and she struggled. She flailed her arms, kicked and may have scratched him a few times. It took a few seconds for Sasuke to clamp her arms to her sides. In a moment, she felt hands on her face, and then lips closed on hers, forcing her mouth open. Sasuke breathed into her mouth, and she calmed, at least having some oxygen.

When she opened her eyes, all she could see in the dark water was the vague shape of Sasuke's face, and the dark spots that were his eyes. They kicked to the surface, and when she could breathe air again, she gulped it in greedily. She looked over at him, frowning. "Please don't do that. I nearly drowned once when I was little." He nodded, and she started swimming for the dock again. Then, Sakura felt Sasuke's hand on her arm. Turning around in the water, she faced him.

For a long moment, he only looked at her. "Are you angry with me?" His voice quiet, with an almost fearful tone to it.

"Not really. It's just that it's scary. Of all ways to die, I think I'd least prefer drowning." He flinched when she mentioned dying. She nearly sighed. It was going to take some getting used to him showing his emotions so easily. "Thank you for helping me to breathe."

* * *

Sasuke watched her climb back up onto the dock. He tried not to, really. It was just that, well, it was _distracting_. Her bra and panties were white, and when white gets wet…_stop it, Sasuke. You're worse than Kakashi!_ He mentally slapped himself. What was worse was when she started trying to put her wet pants back on, and ended up having to hop around to pull them up. He had to look away when she did that. When she was fully dressed, she looked down at him, pouting. "I have to go home and change. I'll be back in a little while." When she turned to leave, he called out to her. 

"Sakura, wait."

"Yes?"

"If you like, you can borrow something." She shook her head, saying that his clothes wouldn't fit her. He frowned, glancing around for something to give him an idea of how to keep her here. It had been days since he'd seen her, and he didn't want her to leave. Suddenly, an idea came to him. After biting his lip for a moment and silently asking forgiveness, he said, "My mother was just about your size. You could borrow something of hers."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Are you sure about that?" She fidgeted with the edge of her vest, looking very uncomfortable, and not only because of her clothes. He nodded, and started to pull himself from the pond. He looked at her, and smiled. It seemed to reassure her.

"I don't think she would mind." Her face flashed through his mind. Her warm, dark eyes, and the way she used to smile at him when she would try to make him act like the kid he was, and not a shorter version of Itachi…those were the things he always remembered. "She would have liked you, I think." Sakura nodded. As they walked back to the house, their feet making watery noises in their shoes, he told her some things about his mother. She used to make the best onigiri, which he really missed. Her cooking was how she really showed how much she loved him and the rest of the family.

"And she would always wipe my face, even if we were in public. It was embarrassing. Did your mom ever do that to you?" He looked to her, and she nodded. There was a strange look on her face, one that he could not place. She kept looking away from him. He sensed some anxiety from her, but he couldn't figure out why she would be anxious. "Is everything all right, Sakura?"

She looked at him for a moment, not really seeing him. "Hai. I'm fine. Just thinking." They continued walking to the house in silence. When they got there, they left their shoes outside to dry.

Sasuke said, "We're going to have to make a run for it. Both of us are soaked."

"Lead the way." She giggled. How she found this fun, he would never understand. He took off running through the house, trying not to fling water everywhere, or to stay too long in one spot. To his surprise, it seemed to be working. When they came to his room, they stood panting for a moment and then Sakura asked him where the bathroom was. He pointed to the door on the far wall, and she went in. In a moment, he had shed all of his clothes, and belted a robe around himself. He knocked on the door to the bathroom. "Yes?"

"I'm going to go find something for you, okay?"

"Hai." Her voice was muffled not only by the door, but also by the shower, which was now turned on. Putting on an old pair of slippers, he walked down the hallway to the stairs that led to the attic. When he opened the door, he looked around at the dust that covered everything. He remembered where many of the things he'd dragged up here were, so he headed straight over to the trunks where his mother's things were kept. The first one held a few house dresses, and a lot of shoes. He shook his head at that. His mother loved her shoes.

The next trunk had an assortment of kimono, and other associated articles. None of them looked quite right. His mother's taste in clothing had been affected by being married to his father. When he was very small, he thought he remembered her wearing lighter, or brighter colors. But later on, she just started to wear the darker grays and blues that his father favored. Finally, at the very bottom of the trunk, there was something he thought she might like.

A pale blue box, wide and flat. He nearly choked when he opened it. His mother's favorite festival kimono, the same color as the box, lay inside. It was of a heavy silk, and the pattern of golden lilies that trailed along the sleeves and hemline would really be beautiful against Sakura's skin. The white obi had gold embroidery that was set in a squarish geometric pattern. It was all a bit old-fashioned, but he hoped that she would want to wear it and not go home. Not that he was ready to say anything like that out loud. It took a lot just for him to say he missed her, let alone practically beg her to stay.

Throwing the obi over his shoulder, he shook out the kimono. It had a few wrinkles, but he could fix that. Surprisingly, the thing didn't smell musty. He took the rest of the things out, and looked at them all. How did women wear all of this? After replacing the box, he carefully folded everything again and went back down the stairs. When he got to the laundry room, he pulled down the ironing board and took out the iron. Spreading the kimono inside out over the board, he smoothed the wrinkles with gentle heat from the iron and water that he sprinkled over the cloth. In less than ten minutes, it looked just as it had the last time his mother had worn it. Placing it on a hanger, he took it and the obi back to his bedroom.

He knocked, and was admitted. Sakura was wearing one of his shirts. "Here, Sakura. This was my mother's." Her eyes widened, and she smiled, taking it.

"Arigato, Sasuke." She leaned over to him and gave him a small kiss. "I'll be out in a moment." It took more than a moment to put on the kimono, obi, obiage, obijime, and all of the other things he had given her. Twenty minutes later, Sakura emerged from the bathroom, and though she did have a mild look of irritation in her eyes from the amount of time it had taken, Sasuke didn't care. She looked beautiful. He allowed himself to smile, but then realized he wouldn't have been able to stop himself. She saw him looking at her, and she shifted her feet.

"Do I look alright?" Sakura bit her lip nervously. Sasuke nodded. That seemed to make her happy. "Are you going to get dressed? I mean, it's not fair for you to be able to laze about in a robe while I'm all trussed up like this." Sasuke laughed.

He moved to the closet, and reached in. Sakura shoved him out of the way. "Hmm. You need color, Sasuke. Not like Naruto or anything, but have you ever considered wearing green?"

"I look like I'm going to vomit if I wear green, Sakura. Look how pale I am." He pointed to his face, and she nodded. He wasn't just pale. He was transparent. Too much time indoors coupled with his naturally fair skin had caused him not to have a very healthy look to him at all. His skin seemed to take on some of the color of whatever he was wearing. He gently nudged her aside, and chose a pair of light gray hakama and a long-sleeved blue shirt, a shade or two darker than her kimono. Then he went to a drawer and took out a pair of tabi, because his feet were cold. "Now, I'll be out in a few minutes. Why don't you go into the living room for a bit and talk to Hinata?" She nodded, and left the room.

Ten minutes later, he was in the living room door, watching Sakura sitting in a chair near the window, watching the street. She was painfully beautiful. He remembered well how he made himself forget her; telling himself that there was nothing other than power. The only conclusion he could come up with was that he had been delusional. He was grateful to her for bringing him back, but he loved her too, so much he found himself wishing that she could stay with him forever. But that was what scared him, really. Everything he had ever really wanted for himself had been taken from him at some point. And if that ever happened to Sakura, if she was taken from him, he knew that he would die.

Sakura turned away from the window, and smiled when she saw him. _There _is_ a way to have her stay forever, you know…_He thought this, but was he really ready for that? _Baka. You're never ready for that. Just do it!_ Sasuke's heart started to beat a skipping rhythm, and he tried to calm himself. What if she said no? This wasn't the same Sakura he used to know. She very well might turn him down. He wasn't the same Sasuke anymore, either, which begged the question of if she still loved him in the same way. He silently prayed that she did.

"Sasuke? Are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost." Sakura stood and walked gracefully over to him, then led him to sit on the couch. There was concern in her eyes when she looked at him. Sasuke thought he must really look bad if she was that fearful.

Nodding, he said, "Hai, Sakura. I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About what?" She said as she held his hand.

"You." He watched her eyes grow large, and she bit her lip. "I'm fine. Really. I just don't want anything to happen to you." Sakura looked at him dubiously.

"I can take care of myself. You know that." She was trying to reassure him, but it wasn't working. The only way he would know that she was safe would be if she was with him. He took her in his arms and held her close. She felt wonderful. There was an almost sick feeling in his stomach. Nothing that felt this good was ever meant to last. How did he explain that to her? If he were to tell her, would she understand?

"You're strong, Sakura, I know that. But I've had everything taken from me, more than once. I don't want to lose you." His voice was a hoarse whisper, and he pulled her tighter against him. "I don't want you to leave me." She lifted her head from where it had been resting on his chest, and stared into his eyes. Those liquid pools of green were pulling him in, and for once, he let himself be pulled. One hand held her around her waist, the other moving up to the nape of her neck, pulling her to him for a kiss that was at once gentle and possessive. When Sasuke pulled himself away from her, he smiled faintly at the look on her face. It was surprised and happy.

"Sakura?"

"Mm?"

"Will you stay with me?" He saw confusion in her eyes. "I mean...I love you, and I want you to always be with me, Sakura." Sasuke braced himself. The confusion in her eyes multiplied. He swallowed the lump in his throat, only to have it return immediately. Her eyes seemed to lose focus, and she gripped his arm. Only too late, he realized that she was about to faint. Of all the reactions he'd expected, this was not one of them. She just sort of collapsed in a boneless heap into his arms, and he was at a loss as to what he should do.

When he began lightly tapping her face with the palm of his hand, she came to quickly enough. The confusion was still there, and she blinked owlishly at him. "Sasuke, did you just ask me what I think you did?" He nearly laughed as he nodded, settling on a smile, instead.

"I'm hoping to actually _make_ chuunin this time around. After that, I can work for a while, then hopefully take the jounin exam. Once I'm a jounin, would you marry me?" He was sure that she would want to be comfortable, and since his inheritance was nearly spent, there was the problem of having a steady income. Sasuke looked expectantly at her. She punched him hard in the chest, without warning, and he could hardly breathe.

"Uchiha Sasuke, why would you even think, even for one second, that I would want to wait that long? It might be years before they let you take the jounin exam." When he started gasping for breath, she smirked. "Quit being such a baby. I didn't even use a third of my strength." He knew what her full strength could do, and he wasn't keen on being on the receiving end of that kind of a beating just now.

"You don't care if I can't support us?" His voice was incredulous.

Sakura's eyes rolled. "Baka, do you think I'm going to quit my job just because I'd be getting married? If that's what you're thinking, try again. Yes, I'll marry you, but you're going to have to get rid of all these ideas you have about being the 'breadwinner.' Just because your father did, it doesn't mean you have to. Okay?" Then, she leaned forward and kissed him, making him forget the pain in his chest. When they separated, she gave him a questioning look, wanting an answer.

"Uh-huh." God, he sounded like Naruto, but it wasn't like he could help it. This was a special circumstance, and he thought he could afford to sound stupid, just this once. After all, he was in uncharted territory. He had never had a girlfriend, let alone a fiancé or a wife. So there was the likelihood that he might hurt her, or that she would beat him to death. But then again, this was Sakura, so the chances of her _actually_ beating him to death were slim.

"What are _you_ two doing?" Hanabi had just come in, fresh from checking in with her genin team. She said that they didn't have to train much together just now. Sasuke had brushed it off. He wished her well in the exam, and hoped that they didn't end up at odds with one another during the second part. She was very unpredictable.

"None of your business, miss busy-body." Sakura stuck her tongue out at the girl. Hanabi made a rude gesture, smiling the entire time. Sasuke watched the exchange with amazement. "How are your teammates, Hanabi-chan?"

Waving a dismissive hand, Hanabi said, "They're just as stupid as usual. Keiko is drooling over that _moron_ again." 'That moron' was Ishida, the third part of Hanabi's genin team. He was similar to Naruto, but actually had much better problem-solving skills. He just chose not to use them most of the time, opting for satisfying his morbid curiosity. One example of said curiosity was last month's Ishida adventure. Hanabi had told them earlier that the month before, Ishida had repelled down the Hokage Monument with a rope that was too short, then simply let go. He had been fifty meters from the ground. It was a very good thing that the boy had mastered gathering chakra into his feet, because otherwise he would have killed himself. As it was, he had jumped higher than anyone Hanabi had ever seen.

Keiko, on the other hand, was a boy-crazy genjutsu user. In spite of the fact that she had the attention span of a three-year old, she had mastered such high-level genjutsu that she often was asked by Iruka to demonstrate for some of the higher-level academy students. Keiko's infatuation with Ishida was legendary. She was the only fangirl he had, but he still ran from her as hard and as fast as he could, which reminded Sasuke a little of himself. Ishida was of the opinion that there would be plenty of time for girls later, and that he was having a great time pulling pranks and being a complete moron by himself. Konohamaru could only wish to be as outrageous.

"So, Sasuke, when you're done with the exams, I take it the others will go home?" Sakura asked, eyebrow raised.

"I'm not running a commune, Sakura. They have parents, and homes." She smiled at him, but seemed a little disappointed. "It is nice having people in the place again, though." He could hear Konohamaru and Moegi arguing distantly, and he thought he saw out the window Sonora gathering insects. "It feels alive. If the others want to take up residence in any of the other houses, they could possibly do that, and pay rent. I wouldn't have any objection to that." His home used to be so quiet, with no sound at all, other than the hum of the electricity if he had lights on, or his own footsteps. Now, there were voices, people, and friends.

It was the fact that he had friends now that he was grateful for. He had Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi when the man felt like popping up, and hopefully soon he could count Konohamaru and Moegi among his friends. Ino was his friend now, too, and while it was frightening how that came about, he at least knew that he could talk to her. The rest of the Rookie Nine were more like acquaintances, unless you counted Hinata. She was like a little sister. For a moment, that thought felt very nice. He would have liked a sister. It had been only he and Itachi, but he remembered wanting to have a sister (mostly just to have a change from just Itachi).

Hanabi sat in one of the chairs opposite the couch, regarding them with her enigmatic white eyes. "You're going to be a landlord? That would be interesting. But I won't be staying. In fact, Hinata and I are going home tonight. The exam is tomorrow, so I need to have some peaceful time." She leaned back in the chair. "Would anyone be interested in lunch?"

They all went into the kitchen, and Sasuke watched Sakura and Hanabi making lunch. He really did like having people around. It was wonderful how his life had changed so much in a very short amount of time. It was all strange and new to him, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

* * *

"What?" Naruto asked, as he came to stand next to Neji. The man was examining a spot of ground outside the Uchiha main house. He looked as if he were staring into the ground, rather than at it. For all Naruto knew, he probably was. 

He pointed at the patch of earth. "There is a very faint residue of chakra here. I've never seen anything like it. It's like it's black, or something. I don't like it. Gives me a feeling like what I had when you had us all go inside the other day." Naruto nodded. He bent down, and put a hand to the ground. Closing his eyes, he woke up the Kyuubi.

_**What do you want, pipsqueak?**_

_Look at this. Have you ever seen anything like it?_ The fox used the contact with the ground to 'look' at the chakra signature. It seemed to back away, hissing. _What is it?_

**_You don't want to deal with that thing, kid. It'll eat you alive. Literally._ **Kyuubi grumbled for a long moment, and then spoke again. **_It's something that shouldn't be alive. And really, it isn't. If it's here, your friend is in trouble. I don't know what humans call it. I call it the Soul Eater. When I was only a kit, I watched from the shadows as others were devoured. You don't want to mess with that thing. You wouldn't be able to see it, even with me to help you. There are only two people you know who can. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep, kid. 'Night._** Before he could ask the fox what to do about the Soul Eater, or how it worked, or anything, the fox had already gone back to sleep. He stood from his crouched position, brushing off his hands.

"Neji, I think we've got a problem." The other man's eyes widened. "Where's Hinata?"

"In the main house, why?"

"I need her to go to the library." He adjusted his gloves nervously. "I'll be back. I'm going ask her to do a little research for me. This is bad, and I need to know more." And with that, he left Neji, who was becoming more paranoid by the second. He was back at the Uchiha main house in moments. When he went in through the back door, he found Hinata in the tearoom. "Hinata-chan!" She looked up from her tea, and seemed startled. Naruto ripped off his mask, and walked over to the table, seating himself near her. "I need to ask a favor of you."

"Certainly. What do you need?" She set down her tea, to give him her undivided attention.

"I need you to go to the library in the Hokage Tower. There's something I need to know about. Kyuubi calls it a Soul Eater. I know that it 'eats' people, but he didn't tell me how, and he said that only two people I know will be able to see it. That could be anyone. Would you be able to go and look up something like that for me?" He chewed on his lower lip, waiting for a response.

Hinata smiled slightly. "I don't think that will be necessary. We only need to visit someone. Can you leave your patrol for about an hour or so?" Naruto nodded. If it had to do with this, he was sure he could. He would just have to radio Neji and the others. "Good. Then we'll go and see Ebisu."

Naruto started. "That pervert knows about this stuff?" Hinata bubbled laughter.

"He isn't just a pervert, Naruto-kun. Ebisu knows many things. And not many people know it, but he's an expert on many myths and legends, as well as on the demons, such as the one you have in here." She put her hand on his stomach, and he could feel the warmth of it through his shirt. He smiled at her, and she blushed slightly.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan. I'll just go change, now. Not that many people need to know that I'm an ANBU." It was true. More people than should knew that he was, and normally, he would have to either kill them, or take them to the Hokage. However, it was not necessary to do either with this group of people. They needed to know. So, he allowed Hinata to finish her tea, and he went to another room to radio Neji, then change his clothes into a normal chuunin uniform. Then he and Hinata left the house to go and visit Ebisu. Naruto hoped that the man had information for them. If he didn't, he'd have to put up with the way the older man looked at him for no good reason.

* * *

**A/N:** Hooray for Naruto! I love that kid, don't you? Still makes Hinata blush...every now and again. And Sasuke? Well, I guess we all have to grow up some time, right? 


	12. Gathering Shadows

**A/N: **After much ado, Here's the 12th chapter. I'm aiming to have everthing resolved by the end of the third stage of the exam. If you want a wedding, I can arrange that, but I hate writing them. So...warnings? Not really. No real foul language to speak of, and the Exam thing is okay, but not that exciting. This chapter is set up, and I hate doing it. You do get a lovely bit of fluff, though, which I adore. Love the Naru/Hina!

**Legal Stuffiness: **I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters therein. Kishimoto Masashi, sole proprietor.  
**

* * *

Last time...**

Hinata smiled slightly. "I don't think that will be necessary. We only need to visit someone. Can you leave your patrol for about an hour or so?" Naruto nodded. If it had to do with this, he was sure he could. He would just have to radio Neji and the others. "Good. Then we'll go and see Ebisu."

Naruto started. "That pervert knows about this stuff?" Hinata bubbled laughter.

"He isn't just a pervert, Naruto-kun. Ebisu knows many things. And not many people know it, but he's an expert on many myths and legends, as well as on the demons, such as the one you have in here." She put her hand on his stomach, and he could feel the warmth of it through his shirt. He smiled at her, and she blushed slightly.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan. I'll just go change, now. Not that many people need to know that I'm an ANBU." It was true. More people than should knew that he was, and normally, he would have to either kill them, or take them to the Hokage. However, it was not necessary to do either with this group of people. They needed to know. So, he allowed Hinata to finish her tea, and he went to another room to radio Neji, then change his clothes into a normal chuunin uniform. Then he and Hinata left the house to go and visit Ebisu. Naruto hoped that the man had information for them. If he didn't, he'd have to put up with the way the older man looked at him for no good reason.

* * *

**Prodigal Uchiha

* * *

Chapter 12:** Gathering Shadows 

"Ah, Hinata-san!" Ebisu ushered her into his apartment, then looked to see another individual, following her in. Raising an eyebrow, he blocked the door. "Uzumaki." Hinata tapped him on the shoulder, and cleared her throat.

"Ebisu-san, please. That, I will _not_ tolerate. Naruto and I are here because there is something we need to know. Unless you don't want to help us?" At this, the man nearly tripped over his own feet trying to let Naruto in. Hinata had to try very hard not to roll her eyes. Ebisu had knowledge that they needed, but he was one of the more obsequious people she'd ever met. That, and the fact that he'd been trying to get her to go on a date with him for months. Honestly, he was more than ten years older than her! She certainly didn't go for men that old. "Arigato, Ebisu-san." She said as Naruto stepped into the room and stood next to her. Ebisu had them sit, and went into the kitchen to make some tea. After he did, both she and Naruto looked around. For an elite jounin, the man was an abominable mess, and this was reflected in his apartment.

Books and scrolls were absolutely everywhere. In one corner, there was a four-foot-tall stack of books in the shape of a partial pyramid, while there were cases lining the walls to the ceiling, as well as random piles of scrolls lying haphazardly in various areas. Ebisu even had a storage system for his scrolls that went over the tops of the book-cases for the more important information he kept. The overall effect was like being in the lair of a pack-rat. Hinata eyed a stack of papers on the small table. They were all labeled 'SENSITIVE,' and she looked quickly away from them.

After this cursory inspection, she turned to Naruto. "Try to be civil, okay?"

Naruto put on his best innocent expression. "When am I not civil?" His grin betrayed him, and she smiled. He hadn't changed that much, even in all these years. Hinata shook an admonishing finger at him.

"Just try, will you? I know you don't like him…"

"It isn't _me_ that has the problem, Hinata-chan. Ebisu never even tried to get to know me, and he automatically thought that I would act like the thing inside me. He's just like everyone else." Naruto lowered his voice. "There are times when it's difficult to absorb all of it. The stares I get, the hate in their eyes. He looks at me like that, Hinata. I don't like it." Hinata bit her lip. Ebisu came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with three cups of tea. Giving Naruto an apologetic look, she turned to Ebisu.

Again, clearing her throat, said, "Naruto and Neji found a residue of chakra outside Uchiha Sasuke's home this morning. Naruto says that it is from a being known to some as the Soul Eater. Would you have any information on such a thing?" Ebisu frowned. "There was something else, wasn't there, Naruto?" The blonde man nodded, and scratched his head.

"My…er, source says that there are only two people I know that would be able to see it. I have no idea which two. What the hell does it mean?" He asked this question more to himself than to anyone else. Hinata patted his arm. She knew that it frustrated him when he couldn't figure something out. She looked over at Ebisu, who was adjusting his sunglasses. _ Doesn't he ever take those things off?_ The jounin frowned, and stood, walking to the third book case on the north wall of the apartment. He pulled out a book, then put it back, then drew another, and tucked it under his arm. He reached up over the shelf, and pulled one of many scrolls from its holder. His choices seemed to be random as he repeated this process several times. Then, he dropped the books and scrolls onto the table.

"It may take me a few minutes to find the information. If you like, I have things for you to read while you wait." He settled back into his chair, and left his tea to get cold on the table. Hinata stared. Ebisu was on the trail now, and he pored over the scrolls and books with a sudden intensity, like a hunter stalking his prey. That was an apt analogy, because Ebisu did treat this sort of thing as a hunt.

Naruto looked out the window, staring at the street, watching the people walking by. Hinata watched Naruto. There were moments when his grin faltered, revealing the pain underneath. She knew that he tried not to let the attitude of the villagers get to him, but everyone has their breaking point. It was her sincere hope that he hadn't reached that point yet. Just when she was about to speak, Ebisu made a quiet noise of delight. She turned back to the man, and he pointed to a spot on a page.

"The Soul Eater, or Soul Hunter, is a being formerly used for summoning by early ninjas. It is used only by the strongest and most capable, and only in dire need." His eyes settled on Hinata and Naruto. "This creature feeds on the souls of its victims, and has a symbiotic relationship with the summoner. If the summoner is killed in a battle where the Soul Hunter has been summoned, the creature also dies. The same, unfortunately, goes for if the creature is killed. In such a case, the summoner dies as well. There has not been found anyone capable of summoning this creature in over 200 years, and it is believed that none currently exist."

"Well, obviously, at least one does." Naruto folded his arms over his chest, and peered over at Ebisu's book. "Does it say how it's invisible? Or how a person can see it?"

Huffing slightly, Ebisu looked back at the pages. "It is invisible unless to the victim just before the soul is consumed. There is one exception. Individuals with the advanced bloodline of the Sharingan can, at certain levels, see the Soul Hunter." Naruto's eyes widened, and Hinata gasped. "So, if there was one of these things at Sasuke's house, then it would be to his benefit to know about this." He eyed Naruto for a moment, then seemed to nod to himself. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Orochimaru, would it?"

Hinata started to answer, but Naruto put a hand on her arm. He said in a placid tone, "I'm sorry, Ebisu-san. That information I cannot give you. It is privileged." The older man nodded in understanding. Naruto stood, and bowed formally, and Hinata did the same. "Thank you for the information, Ebisu-san. If you ever need a favor, outside of classified information, please do not hesitate to ask." The jounin seemed surprised, but bowed in return, and walked them to the door.

When the door closed behind them, Hinata looked at Naruto. "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

"Fine. I just figured that it would be better to deal with him that way. Formal and polite, without being too warm." He stared ahead of them as they walked back up the street. "His eyes changed." Hinata realized that he was right. Ebisu, by the end of their visit, no longer looked at Naruto with hatred. She smiled. It was a talent of his, she knew, to simply be able to change people in a short period of time. Her family was living proof of that. Two of the youngest members of the family had been changed by Naruto, for the better. He seemed to bring out the best in everyone around him, and she found that to be one of his best qualities.

After about twenty minutes, they were back at the Uchiha compound, and were entering the main house. They found Sasuke, Sakura, and Hanabi sitting around the kitchen table, talking.

"So, what do you think they'll make us do in the Forest of Death?" Hanabi seemed excited. Hinata still did not understand her younger sister very well. The girl was far too eager to prove herself. Hanabi was munching on a cookie, and Sakura seemed absorbed in staring at Sasuke. Sasuke gave a small smile and a twitch of his hand in greeting before answering his fellow genin.

"I have no idea. Last time, it was collecting two scrolls and getting to the Tower in less than forty-eight hours. So I have no clue what it could be this time." Sakura looked over at Naruto, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, no. I'm not supposed to talk about that." He raised his hands in front of himself defensively. He was, as an ANBU captain, on the council that decided what the task for the second stage of the exam would be, but they were sworn to secrecy. Sakura looked disappointed, but his warning look forestalled any questions she had. She was now pouting prettily, which Hinata envied. Sakura seemed to be able to do that sort of thing, but if she ever tried, Hinata only looked silly. "Sakura-chan, puppy-dog eyes aren't going to do you any good."

Huffing slightly, Sakura stood and took her glass, and Sasuke's as well, to the sink. Hinata noticed for the first time that Sakura was not wearing her chuunin uniform. She wore a beautiful pale blue kimono with gold lilies over it. Not usually something she pictured Sakura wearing, she assumed that it belonged to one of Sasuke's relatives, maybe his mother. It looked very beautiful on her, and she could see Sasuke watching her. He seemed happy, for which she was glad. Her cousin (distant though he may be) was still her cousin, and he deserved all the happiness possible.

Glancing outside, Hinata noticed the afternoon beginning to wane. "I'm sorry to have to leave, but Hanabi and I must go. We'll be packing our things and going home, now. Hanabi?" Her sister shoved the rest of the cookie she'd been eating into her mouth and mumbled a muffled affirmative reply around that bit of food. After rising from the table, they left to go and pack. Hanabi ran ahead to the room she had shared with Moegi, and Hinata came at a moderate pace to the room she had occupied.

"Hinata-chan," she heard behind her as she sorted through her clothes, and she turned to see Naruto. "Thanks for coming with me. I don't think he would have told me anything if you weren't there." He scratched behind his head, smiling sheepishly.

"It's okay. I was glad to help." After a moment of awkward silence, she moved toward him and gave him a tentative hug. "Take care of yourself, Naruto-kun." She knew she wouldn't be seeing him for a while, since she was going back home, and she would be teaching at the Academy. Naruto chuckled and gave her a quick squeezing hug back.

"I will. Just remember, I'm too stubborn to die, Hinata-chan."

* * *

Of course, he had to fight the blush that tried to build on his cheeks when she hugged him. He also had to fight the urge not to let her go. He really liked her, probably more than he should. If Neji found out, that would be very unhealthy for him. Naruto didn't want to have to deal with Hinata's protector any more than he wanted to deal with Orochimaru. Reluctantly, he loosened his hold on her, and then gave her a winning smile to cover for his discomfort. Blushing prettily, Hinata stepped back from him. 

"I'll be going back to the patrol, now." He felt awkward, which was odd for him. Naruto turned back to the door, and was in the hall when he felt her hand on his arm. When he faced her again, she seemed nervous. "Hinata-chan?" There was also some kind of discomfort that did not amount to nervousness in her eyes, and he blinked. She looked like she was about to start crying. "What's wrong?" Without a second, or even a first thought, he stepped back into the room, pulled her back to him, and began stroking her hair.

"I'm sorry. It's just, I like being around you. It won't be the same when I go home." She sounded so sad that Naruto almost wanted to check and see if she was crying. "Will you visit me?" He paused in his movement, and bent so that he could see her face. Her eyes latched onto his face, and he could barely breathe. She _was_ crying.

"Hai, I'll visit you, Hinata, but please don't cry." Now, he used his sleeve to wipe away her tears, and smiled at her. "There. You look much prettier when you're happy, Hinata-chan." Naruto's arms loosened around her again, but she put her arms around his waist and held him tightly, resting her chin on his chest and looking up at him. It was such a cute gesture that he smiled broadly and then bent to kiss her forehead. With an expression that resembled a sly smile, Hinata shifted her weight, and Naruto was surprised to find himself kissing her lips. After blinking a couple of times, he smiled slightly. He pulled back from her and said, "That was sneaky, Hinata-chan."

"Gomen, Naruto-kun. I—"

"Yeah, don't do that again. I really hated that." His tone was utterly sarcastic. She smiled hesitantly at him. "Here, let's try that again." Naruto's face lowered toward hers, and he could not keep a small smile from his lips. Oh, this was a bad idea, to be sure, but no one was around, so…

"Uzumaki, get your lips off my sister." Hanabi stood in the door, her pack over her shoulder, a nasty smile on her face. She looked at Hinata. "You know that rules, onee-san. He has to meet with father first." Naruto's eyes widened at the thought of meeting with Hiashi. "And Neji, too." His head swam. Then, he cocked his head to one side and looked at Hanabi. Using the toe of his shoe, he kicked the door closed, and then wedged it shut by jamming a kunai between the door and the jamb on the hinge side.

"Like I was saying…" He took her in his arms again as Hanabi began banging on the door, yelling threats at him if he touched her sister. His mouth touched hers, lips brushing lightly over hers, then his eyes slid shut as the door began to shake with the girl's assault. Hinata's hands found their way into his hair, pulling him closer, and he let out a small sigh. He heard the kunai come out of where he'd put it, and then the door banged open, and Hanabi launched herself at them.

Hinata pulled away from him, and moved forward, blocking the punch that was aimed at his head, then twisting Hanabi's arm behind her back and pinning her to the floor on her stomach, one knee in the middle of her back. "Hanabi-chan, I'll thank you to please mind your own business when it comes to Naruto-kun. Or should I tell father about you and Konohamaru?" Naruto couldn't help it. He let out a loud bray of laughter before he was able to clamp his hand down over his mouth. The girl went limp under Hinata's knee.

"You wouldn't." Hanabi glared up at her.

"Turn about is fair play, little sister. You mind your business, and I'll mind mine. Although, I will say that I think you're a little young for what I saw the two of you doing on the training grounds last month." Hanabi turned ten shades of red, and Hinata let her up. "Are we agreed?" The younger Hyuuga nodded. "I will take him to see father, but not until after all of this business with the Chuunin exams has finished. There's far too much going on, and father's's worried about you. I don't need him yelling at me because of who I decided to kiss." Finally, Hanabi seemed placated. She mumbled something about going on ahead, and that she would see her sister at home. After shooting an icy glare at Naruto, the girl departed.

Hinata's face lit up with a grin that he had never seen before. "I should go, too." He was just starting to wonder why she was grinning when she said, "Give me a goodbye kiss?" He chuckled to himself, then smiled, leaning over and taking her face in his rough, calloused hands. Gently, he kissed her, not really a farewell, but a promise of things to come, if all went as he would like. When he pulled away from her, the expression on her face was enough to make his entire day better, even with the Kyuubi grumbling in the back of his head, and his own thoughts...wondering if Neji would find out that he'd kissed his cousin and start something.

* * *

**Monday, 08:00 hours**

**Konoha Ninja Academy, room 201**

**Chuunin Selection Exam, Stage I**

This was like a repeat of the last time Sasuke took the exam. There were many people in the room, and he knew just by looking at them that not half of them would make it through the exam. Nodding to Sonora, who sat across the room with her genin team, he was sure that she would be one of those to pass. If she was anything like Shino, which he knew she was, she would most likely make chuunin on her second try if not this time around. Hanabi sat with two other genin in a corner, whispering. He was pretty sure that the one who _wasn't _paying attention to her was Ishida. And from the way the short blonde-haired girl next to Hanabi was alternately glancing around the room and at the uncaring young man who lounged in a chair against the wall, Sasuke knew that would be Keiko.

Konohamaru was standing to Sasuke's left, and Moegi to his right. They surveyed the crowd. Fifteen from the Sand, twelve from Grass, six from the Hidden Rock, and Nine from the Cloud. With the nine from the Leaf, there were fifty-one participants. Far too many. The chuunin examiners were going to be _very_ strict in their observations. He watched Moegi shift her feet. "Cool it, will you?" Konohamaru hissed, "I'm nervous enough without you fidgeting!" Sasuke held back a sigh. These two were going to drive him up the wall.

"Now, we discussed this," he said in a low, calm voice. "A united front is the best way to get through this. I told you what happened the last time, but they might change the rules on us." Moegi looked up at him, her eyes full of apprehension. "Just stay calm, Moegi. I know you can do this. Right, Konohamaru?" The boy nodded, and fingered his still-bandaged arm. He would have some scarring, but the pressure-bandages Hinata had used really helped. Since Hanmaru's death and subsequent attack on him, Konohamaru had cut the sleeves off of his shirts. He said that it looked funny to only have one sleeve, and having the cloth against the healing burn made it hurt more. Sasuke couldn't say that he blamed him. Burns were one of the worst kinds of wounds. "Just remember to look at the situation strategically. We need you in the second stage of the exam, Moegi. So just hang in there."

"Ahem." A quiet but penetrating voice said, and all participants turned to see Yuuhi Kurenai, who had suddenly appeared at the head of the room. "Please, form two lines, single file, and come pick numbers from the boxes on the desk." The participants all did as they were asked, and when everyone had their numbers, each was called in turn, assigning each genin to a random seat. Sasuke ended up sitting next to Ishida. That would do him absolutely no good at all. So he looked around for Konohamaru and Moegi.

Konohamaru was sitting between two rather scary-looking girls from the Sand, and trying to put on a brave face. Sasuke wasn't sure how much good it was doing, since one of the girls was looking at him as if he was lunch. She leaned over to the boy and whispered something in his ear, and Sasuke watched his face turn a vaguely dull shade of red. The Sand nin was smirking, and she made a _very_ sultry face at Konohamaru, who's face was now approximately the color of Sasuke's Sharingan. When he looked at Sasuke, the Uchiha mouthed, "Suck it up," and Konohamaru leaned over to the girl, whispered something to her, and she slapped him. After that, the girl ignored Konohamaru's existence. Konohamaru was grinning ear-to-ear, and Sasuke chuckled. Not bad. The girl had been trying to throw his teammate off, and Konohamaru had apparently said something extremely inappropriate, which Sasuke was going to have to ask him about later.

When he looked to the front of the room, he found that Moegi was sitting next to a tall Grass nin, who seemed to be asleep, and a rather fat Cloud nin, who took up more room than anyone should be allowed to and still be a shinobi. She turned back to look at Sasuke. Her lips formed words as she pointed to the fat ninja. "He smells," her nose wrinkled, and Sasuke smiled as she continued, "and I think the other guy's dead." She poked the Grass nin, and he stirred, eyeing her appraisingly.

"You want to start something, little girl?" The lazy-voiced nin drawled threateningly. He began to puff up when Moegi bristled. "Come on. I'll take you right now." Sasuke rolled his eyes and was standing between them in a flash.

"Save it. You'll probably get your chance later, you know." He looked down at the Grass nin, whose eyes were a strange shade of yellow, and red bled into his own eyes, small black markings swirling around his pupils. He did not see any disguise, so it wasn't Orochimaru. He fingered his dart launchers through his sleeves, wondering how much trouble this guy was going to be. Just then, Kurenai interrupted.

"Will you kindly take your seat, Uchiha?" Her red eyes stared at him, and her tone was suddenly very prim.

"Hai, Kurenai-san. I just didn't want a fight breaking out. It's early yet." She smiled at that, and he nodded before returning to his seat. Kurenai explained the usual information about the exam, such as the option to forfeit after hearing the rules.

"And now, the rules. First, there will be no cheating. If you are caught cheating four times by our examination assistants, you and your team will be disqualified. Are there any questions about the first rule?" No one raised their hand or spoke up, so she continued. "You get one point per correct answer, and your team must get a total of no fewer than seven points to move on to the second stage." Sasuke was starting to think that it would be exactly the same as the first time he took the examination. "When you receive your papers, you will notice that there are only nine questions on the page. This is because the final question will be given to you once time is up. Questions?" Again, the room was silent. "Good. Now, assistants, please hand out the papers."

The timer was started five minutes later, and the fun began. Sasuke used his Sharingan to copy the movements of various ninja, hiding his eyes behind his bangs. It was surprising how many of the people in front of him actually seemed to know the answers. Moegi's hand was moving very quickly, showing that she was making a valiant effort, though she was taking the Naruto approach and not even looking around. He had a feeling that Konohamaru was doing something similar behind him, but he couldn't be sure. Hanabi, he knew, was using the _Byakagun_ and Sonoroa was using her insects.

When time was up, Kurenai said, "Pencils down." The genin still seated (five teams had been disqualified and two from the Sand forfeited, much to their shame) all complied, and she said, "Now, here's the catch. If you answer this question, and get it wrong, you fail. You will cause your team to fail as well. If you get this question wrong, you'll never be allowed to take the exam again. If you decide not to answer this question, you can go back to being a genin, and try again next time. Choose wisely. You have three minutes to think about this. If you wish to forfeit, simply raise your hand, and one of the assistants will escort you and your team from the room."

No one raised their hands. Moegi looked extremely nervous. After three minutes' time, they all had remained motionless. Kurenai smiled. "Okay, you all pass." Sasuke was not that surprised. It was precisely like the first time. "However, I must warn you that from here on out, you must be prepared for the unexpected. The next part of the examination begins in two days. Use that time to prepare."

Sasuke looked back at Konohamaru, whose head was lying flat on the desk. Glancing over at Moegi, he saw her staring at their teammate as well. He made his way back to where the boy was sitting, and as he touched him, his hand closed on nothing but smoke. _A_ _Bunshin?_ Up from a shadow on the floor rose Konohamaru, and he immediately collapsed into his chair. "Gods, that was hard."

"What did you do, baka?" Moegi asked, her tone sharp.

"My jutsu. I pretended to drop my pencil, and went under the desk for it. When I was under there, I did another version of my concealment jutsu after making a shadow clone—thanks for teaching me that, by the way, Sasuke—then only moved through shadows to move through the desks. Do you have any idea how strange it feels to be a piece of paper?" The boy chuckled exhaustedly. "I'm starving." Sasuke frowned. They had been given forty-five minutes to do their exam, and then there were approximately five minutes until they were done with the final question. Konohamaru had held his jutsu for nearly an hour. He couldn't pretend that he wasn't impressed by the boy's improvement.

Moegi made an annoyed noise in the back of her throat. She scooped up her teammate, and carried him out of the room, and Sasuke followed. Kurenai stopped him before he could get out of the door. "Sasuke," she asked in the near-empty room, "How are they?"

"They're doing fine, Kurenai-san. Don't worry about them. They've improved greatly. I just hope we'll be alright in the forest." She nodded. Her face seemed drawn, as if she weren't really sure that they would be. That didn't exactly give Sasuke very much confidence. "I'll take care of them." She seemed a little more assured when he said that. As long as Moegi didn't lose her head, and Konohamaru kept his cool, they would be fine.

"Make sure that you do, Sasuke. They're the closest thing I have to family."

* * *

**A/N:** Well, there's the first bit of the Chuunin Exams. Not to mention the fact that we've got some crazy wierd soul-eating ickyness after both Sasuke and Itachi. This could get ugly. 


	13. To Catch a Shadow

**A/N:** Oh, wow. That took forever. I have been working on this as much as I can in the past few weeks since getting private message asking for me to continue, and wondering if Sasuke and the gang were on hiatus? Oh, not intentionally, but it did kind of seem like it for a while. So, here's chapter 13. There's a lot going on, so I'll start with a short explanation of the situation. For those of you who are just now realizing it, Sasuke is not a bad guy. He's learned a lot, but so has everyone else. We get to see Mogei in action again in this chapter, as well as Naruto doing some really cool collaboration tracking stuff with Kyuubi! Kakashi's administering the second stage of the exam, which scares me just a little, but there's a reason for it. Also, we are starting to get an inkling of how much of a badass Sakura might actually be.

* * *

**Last time...**

"What did you do, baka?" Moegi asked, her tone sharp.

"My jutsu. I pretended to drop my pencil, and went under the desk for it. When I was under there, I did another version of my concealment jutsu after making a shadow clone—thanks for teaching me that, by the way, Sasuke—then only moved through shadows to move through the desks. Do you have any idea how strange it feels to be a piece of paper?" The boy chuckled exhaustedly. "I'm starving." Sasuke frowned. They had been given forty-five minutes to do their exam, and then there were approximately five minutes until they were done with the final question. Konohamaru had held his jutsu for nearly an hour. He couldn't pretend that he wasn't impressed by the boy's improvement.

Moegi made an annoyed noise in the back of her throat. She scooped up her teammate, and carried him out of the room, and Sasuke followed. Kurenai stopped him before he could get out of the door. "Sasuke," she asked in the near-empty room, "How are they?"

"They're doing fine, Kurenai-san. Don't worry about them. They've improved greatly. I just hope we'll be alright in the forest." She nodded. Her face seemed drawn, as if she weren't really sure that they would be. That didn't exactly give Sasuke very much confidence. "I'll take care of them." She seemed a little more assured when he said that. As long as Moegi didn't lose her head, and Konohamaru kept his cool, they would be fine.

"Make sure that you do, Sasuke. They're the closest thing I have to family."

* * *

**Time: **4.5 years after Sasuke' departure 

**Place:** Forest of Death

**Mission: **Surviving the Chuunin Exam

* * *

**Chapter 13:** To Catch a Shadow

* * *

**08:00 hours**

**Northeast side, Forest of Death**

**Chuunin Selection Exam, Stage II**

**Day 1**

**48:00:00 hours remaining**

Moegi looked around, taking in the remaining competitors. The creepy guy she sat next to from Grass was still around, which didn't bode well for her. He seemed to have it out for her, which was just her luck, really. She took a deep breath. Sasuke was right. She had to stay calm. There was no way she was going to get through this without keeping her nerve. The night before, she'd met with Kurenai. The woman was concerned.

"_Moegi, I want you to be careful. I have a bad feeling about the exam."_

"Kurenai-sensei, please just calm down. Nothing bad's going to happen. We're going to be watching each other's backs." Though she tried to reassure her teacher, the woman seemed adamant. After more urging, Moegi had said, "I'll take care of them," and smiled. She was a bit more confident now, and it must have showed. Finally, Kurenai had relented. "Don't worry so much. We'll be fine."

And they would be. Moegi's hands drifted to her scrolls. She had re-written all of them, and had an extra one in her bag, so that she would have a little bit of a trick up her sleeve for later on. The more she looked at that yellow-eyed boy who was twice her height, the more she was scared of him, which meant that she just wanted even more to be able to prove herself. But, it wasn't like she felt as if she was ready for this. No one was ever really ready for the Forest of Death. Not even the geniuses. It was proof enough that Sasuke was still a Genin.

* * *

Konohamaru saw Moegi eying the rest of the participants. She looked more like she was sizing them up than she was scared of them. That was good. The last thing they needed was for her to lose her nerve. He saw that the pervvy chick from the Sand was still around. He chuckled as she glanced at him; when he raised an eyebrow at her suggestively, the girl looked away. Konohamaru smirked openly. Of course, he cut it out quickly when he felt eyes on him. He knew whose gaze he was under, and he wasn't about to provoke her. He turned around to see Hanabi. Her arms were folded under her tiny hint of a bosom. He signed to her, _Psychological torture_. To his surprise, she nodded gravely, signing back, _Just don't enjoy it too much, idiot._

That made him smile. He really loved that girl. He just hoped he didn't end up having to fight her. She'd never forgive him if he kicked her ass. Turning back to face the rest of the others who were milling about, waiting for the examiner of the second test, who had yet to arrive, he also began looking around as Moegi was. Not only the one Sand chick and her team, but too many others. Far too many. This was going to suck.

A large cloud of smoke appeared at the head of the crowd, and they all turned toward it, waiting for it to clear away.

* * *

Sasuke nearly chuckled. Why on earth were they letting Kakashi administer the second part of the exam? Then again, from what Naruto had told him, with his partial control of the Sharingan, he might be able to see the Soul Eater, albeit that was just conjecture. His former sensei caught his eye, and made a sign at him. He remembered that one well. _Caution._ It was a mere flick of fingers to anyone else, but their team had developed a communication system that was highly effective, even in casual situations. It was because it was made up of natural body movements that it was so difficult to detect. 

His lifted eyebrow indicated that he had received the message, and a small smirk while scratching his nose was the sign for _Always_. He thought he saw the man's mask form a small smile. His teacher was an enigma still. Then, the man said quietly, and in a voice so lazy he was sure Shikamaru was jealous somewhere, "Alright, shut up. Now, here's the deal. You all have forty-eight hours from the time you enter the forest to complete your tasks. And the task is…" He dug through his pockets, and pulled out what looked to be a broken glass ball, each piece marked with kanji. There were three pieces. _Double elimination?_ Apparently, it was nothing so harsh.

Kakashi continued. "Your task will be to carry two pieces, and find the third. You must not under any circumstances put them together. For this reason, they will be given to you in small bags. None of you will know what teams have what pieces. What you must do is find other teams, and through reconnaissance or combat, discover what their pieces are, and then take the piece you need to complete your ball. All the while, you'll be traveling toward the tower at the center of the forest. Chuunin examiners, please take the Genin to their appropriate gates."

They were swiftly hustled off to gates surrounding the forest after picking up their pieces to their glass. One had the kanji for "mind" on it, while another had one for "spirit". Sasuke could only assume that the other would be "body". Now with less than a minute until the gates were opened, the entire group was nervous. Sasuke felt it. He looked at Moegi. She didn't look it, but she was actually trying not to shake. Konohamaru was feigning boredom. He needed to be a better actor. Sasuke was slightly nervous, but only because of what happened to him the last time he was in there. He knew he didn't have to worry about Orochimaru coming after him. The man wasn't an idiot. He knew that Sasuke was stronger than he was; if not stronger than Itachi, he was a very close second.

He growled curses under his breath at the gate as it opened, and he nodded at the Chuunin examiner who opened it. They proceeded at a fast pace, though with some caution. Sasuke signaled for a halt after twenty minutes. "Now, I know it's probably not exactly time yet, but I figure a little rest and planning would be good. First, we have to think about what happens if we come up against any teams from Kohoha."

Moegi smiled. "Bust them."

"No." Both Sasuke and Moegi looked askance at Konohamaru. "Come on, Sasuke. They're our comrades. What we should do is have the two of you make a diversion. I'll sneak in and find out what pieces they have, and if one of them is the one we need, I'll steal it." Sasuke liked the idea. Minimal risk, especially if the boy used his jutsu. They both looked to Moegi, who was pouting.

"Aw. I wanted to bust some heads. Now that we're in here, it doesn't seem so bad." Sasuke shook his head, cautioning her that the forest only seemed benign.

"So are we agreed on that? Recon and theft, rather than attacking and risking bodily injury, possible death, and delay?" Both of them nodded, although Moegi's nod was a little jerky. She must have really been serious. He couldn't imagine why. Especially with the way that Grass nin had been looking at her. The last time he saw anyone look like that was Orochimaru. The Grass nin gave him the creeps. If they came across Hanabi, he would ask her for information. She was good with that. And, he was pretty sure she could see through any disguises that Orochimaru might have.

After a long moment, Moegi said, "Oh, but could I pretend to be serious? That could be our diversion! I could pretend to fight with one of the members of each team!" The idea did have some merit. Depending on which member. When asked about this, she smiled. "Ishida, and that girl with the dread locks…what's her name?"

* * *

In a dark shadow in the forest, he waited. There were bodies at his feet, killed for their souls. He had to keep his strength up, after all. Having this kind of body was a bit awkward. He hated it, actually. Inhabiting a human body was grating on his nerves. But he was stuck. The man he called "master" was nothing more than his jailer. None of the Soul Eaters had ever been confined. Yume (for that was his name) felt the shame trying to burn him alive. But he would not die. He was made of sterner stuff than that. 

Because he had been summoned, then bound to this body, he could not allow his master to die. Orochimaru was his ticket to life after this. If he could make the man release him, he could destroy the summoning scroll. Then he would be free to roam the earth. He might even be able to find a mate. So, he protected the man, spied for him, and did his bidding. At the moment, he was waiting patiently for the younger brother. He could wait. He had all the time in the world. Being immortal made you rather patient, actually.

* * *

Sakura sat in the tower at the center of the Forest of Death. She and Anko had been assigned to watch the bank of television screens. After the disaster that was her first Chuunin exam, the Hokage had ordered the installation of hundreds of cameras in the forest. Sakura watched a wall of about two hundred screens, while Anko and her other helpers (whom she called her minions) watched the other four hundred. Already, she had a headache. She was the first to spot Sasuke's group. "Anko, put camera one six two on the big screen, and the ones surrounding." The next thing she knew, she was staring at a split screen of five images, all but one of which were blank. In the middle, there was Sasuke, Moegi, and Konohamaru. 

They crouched behind a bush, watching another team. The team now walking out of the main frame and into the one in the upper left consisted of Hanabi, Ishida, and Keiko. Anko nearly choked. "Where did that brat go?" Sakura smiled. Konohamaru melted into the ground, and was most likely on his way to the other team. Moegi jumped out in front of Ishida, offering a challenge. Leaning back in her chair, Anko chuckled, "Ballsy chick, ain't she?"

Sakura knew this tactic. Distract, recon, theft. Kakashi, 101. Simple, but ludicrously effective. Speaking of her old sensei, where was he? Just then, one of the 'minions' piped up, "Anko-san, I think we've got a problem." Anko jumped up from her chair and went across the room to the screen the young man was looking at.

"Sakura! Go find Naruto. Neji, too. Now."

"Hai!" The medic had never run so fast in her life. Anko's voice left no room for refusal, and definitely no slouching. Just before she'd left the room, she had looked past Anko's shoulder. On the monitor, there were three dead bodies, and a strangely blurred spot. What the hell was that? It gave her an extremely bad feeling, just looking at it.

Naruto and Neji were both stationed at the tower, thank goodness, so she didn't have to go through the forest to look for them. They were on the roof, watching for signs of infiltration from above. Skidding to a stop, and panting, Sakura flapped her arms at the two ANBU. Panther and fox masks turned toward her, and Neji's panther tilted to one side in amusement. She made a rude gesture at him, and then straightened. Taking a deep breath, she said, "You two…surveillance room…now." Before she had a chance to say another word, they had disappeared, leaving her to grumble at not knowing all of those secret ANBU jutsus. By the time she had trudged down into the room again, they were already debating over the best course of action.

"Naruto, I think I should take this part of the forest. You have a great sense of smell, so the river is best for you to avoid. It will wash away any trace of the Soul Eater's smell." Neji had his mask pulled up, and his hair was falling over one side of his face as he pointed to an area on the large map-top table. This had to do with the Soul Eater?

"Ma, ma. Okay. Now, I'll take this part. Radio silence unless we find something." Naruto's eyes were narrowed in concentration. Neji nodded grimly. Sakura began to worry. Neither of them even looked at her on their way out. She looked at Anko, who tried to smile reassuringly, but it was a miserable attempt. Sakura screeched in frustration.

"Damn it!" The minions looked at her askance, and then returned quickly to their work when they saw her infuse her fist with chakra threateningly. "I hate feeling helpless!" Looking around, she had an idea. Once she'd adjusted a few things with the computer for her set of monitors, she found that things worked a lot easier. It was set so that none of them were displayed unless there was movement detected. No sooner had she done this than one of the screens lit up, showing one thing she most certainly did not want to see. "Anko, I'm leaving."

"Like hell you are." Anko's voice was annoyed, to say the least.

Sakura turned around, fixing her eyes on the woman, and jabbed a finger at the screen, then pressed a button, blowing the image up to full size on the big screen. On the enormous screen was a life-sized image of Uchiha Itachi, and he was staring directly into the camera, his Sharingan swirling. One of his hands moved in a strange way. Her eyes widened, then she played the image back. It was a sign. _He's here. Time to end it._ Her breath caught in her throat, as did Anko's.

In a voice that sounded of apology, Anko said, "I'll find another minion. Hurry."

And hurry she did.

* * *

**Northeast corner, Forest of Death**

"Sorry 'bout that, Hanabi." Moegi was now helping Ishida up from the ground.

"What about me, you twit!" The boy grated, his bright green eyes narrowing as his dark bangs fell into his face. "You kicked the shit out of me!" Indeed, the boy was bleeding from his nose, and it might very well be broken.

"Can it, ass-wipe." The entire group blinked. None of them had ever heard Hanabi swear before. They all turned to her, and she said, "We've got company. Thank you _so_ much, Ishida-baka. Get ready." No sooner had they all dropped into ready stances than they were greeted by a team from the Grass.

One very familiar-looking nin stepped forward and directed his taunts toward Moegi. "I didn't know they let midgets be ninjas in Konoha! You look even shorter when you stand up, little one."

The red-head raised an eyebrow appraisingly at the annoying newcomer. "May I have the pleasure of knowing the name of the idiot I'm about to kick the crap out of?"

Surprisingly, the young man bowed formally. "My name is Aki. And you are?"

"The name's Moegi. You, sir, can call me whatever you want. It won't make a difference." Konohamaru balked. The girl was hot-headed, but he really thought she had more sense than to go picking a fight with someone who was twice her size. Sasuke put a hand on his arm when he started to interfere. Apparently, the elder Genin was altogether keen on letting her get her ass handed back to her in the most painful way possible. When he looked at Sasuke, the man's eyes told him to stay put, but also that this was something that was more of a test of the girl's will than anything.

As none of the other Grass nins had stepped forward, the rest of the Konoha Genin remained content to stay where they were, warily watching the proceedings. Aki moved so quickly that Konohamaru could not see him, and kicked at Moegi's midsection. The girl was laughing so loud he was sure that the entire forest heard her. When they looked up at where her voice had come from, she was glued feet-first onto the underside of a tree-branch, fifteen feet above Aki's head. A tiny glow of chakra was seen between her feet and the bark of the tree.

Aki threw three kunai at Moegi as she dropped back toward the ground. The girl landed on the ground with a cloud of dust, and when it began to settle, the taller nin was surprised to find that he had not missed his target, but she had not been hurt in the least. That is to say that she had caught all three weapons, one in each hand, and the other with her teeth. Spitting out the blade in her mouth, she kicked it and it embedded itself in the tree just behind his head. "Moron." The other two kunai were thrown back to their owner, and he caught them, still rather stunned. "Don't tell me that's all you've got."

The golden-eyed boy smiled to himself. "You know, if you weren't so annoying, I'd say you were cute." At that, he and his teammates disappeared.

Konohamaru blinked. "That was odd."

Hanabi was just as confused. She looked at him, and made a small gesture. He nodded. "Well, thanks for sticking with us while Moegi took out her aggressions…" They began to withdraw, and go their separate ways, but Hanabi made another sign, which he raised an eyebrow at. It said simply, _Take care of yourself._ Usually, she called him an idiot, or any of a multitude of other names. This time, though, she just told him to take care. Was she worried? He smiled his best smile at her, in an attempt to reassure her. The girl was placated, and the two teams took off in opposite directions.

"So?" Moegi asked, as soon as they were out of earshot.

"They had the red bag with the "mind" fragment, and the green one with the "spirit" piece, but no "body", which is what we need. That bag is white. So far, we're screwed." Sasuke smiled a little at that, saying it wasn't over until it was over.

* * *

**20:42 hours**

**West half, Forest of Death**

**Chuunin Selection Examination, Stage II**

**Day 1, 35:18:02 hours remaining**

Neji's Byakagun would not be able to see the Soul Eater. He knew that. His and Naruto's job wasn't to kill it. He had serious doubts that they would be able to, anyway. His own strength was his eyes, and against this particular enemy, they were useless. It was more than a little frustrating. But, he had to concentrate on the task at hand. Naruto was on the other side of the forest, and they were only to track the thing, and maybe contact Sakura and Anko to find Sasuke's position.

"Neji." The masked Hyuuga's eyes narrowed. What was Anko doing on an ANBU-only channel? He pressed the switch at his neck to reply.

"Hai. What is it, Anko?"

"There's another…problem." Neji knew that Naruto could also hear this conversation, so he supposed it was meant for both of them. "Uchiha Itachi is in the forest." Neji's lips compressed into a hard line. Itachi in the forest? This was just getting better and better.

"I'll see what I can—"

"No. You don't understand." Anko sounded rather upset. "Sakura went after him."

Suddenly, there was a strangled croaking sound coming over the radio. Then, Naruto said, "Is she insane?" That made Neji smile. The man was still extremely protective of his friend. "What should we do?"

Neji sighed before answering. Pressing the little button at his neck, he said, "We continue with our mission. If she needs help, we can send someone. Sakura isn't stupid, Naruto. She's probably just going to keep an eye on him."

"Hm." Naruto's voice sounded as if he didn't wholly believe that. "Okay, we continue."

* * *

**East half, Forest of Death**

Naruto had stopped moving. He stood on a ridge in the forest, and pulled off his ANBU mask. Breathing in deeply with his eyes closed, he allowed his senses to take in all of the surrounding scents, sounds, the way the air tasted, and the way it moved. **_Good, kid. Now, what do you see?_**

"Jack shit."

**That's not helping. You have to be able to find it without seeing it if you're going to track the damned thing.**

"Sorry. I'm just really feeling like I _should_ be able to see it."

_**You want my help or not?**_

Had he not still been trying to follow the instructions that Kyuubi had given, he would have held up his hands in a defensive posture. **_Now. Start again._ **Naruto did as he was told. Stand still. Relax your muscles. Let go of fear. Breathe in through the nose, but with the mouth open to taste the air.

After a long moment, it was almost as if he could feel the area around him. The world had narrowed to a fifty-meter radius, and he could reach out and touch it all. He could taste the leaves of the trees, and feel the grit of the dirt. A bird passing by felt as if it brushed its wings against his face. And off to the northeast, there, just at the very edge of his sightless world, was a scent he recognized. The Kyuubi chuckled. **_There you go, kid. The trail is there. Now, just don't let the scent get too fresh, or you'll be in deep shit. Therefore, I will be in deep shit, and if I'm in deep shit, I'll have to haul your ass out of it. And we both know what happens when I do that._** Naruto nodded vigorously. He didn't want that to ever happen again.**_ Can I go now?_**

"Sure. Thanks, bastard-fox." A grumble thundered in his head, and Naruto grinned as he put the mask back on. All he had to do was make sure the scent didn't get too fresh. Easier said than done.

* * *

**Northwest corner, Forest of Death**

Sakura could feel it. There was a large amount of chakra being manipulated ahead, and the user had made no attempt to hide it. Only a few people had that much, and she was certain that Naruto and the Sannin would have the presence of mind to mask it. That left only one person. Uchiha Itachi. She could be making a huge mistake. Or, she could be doing the village and Sasuke a huge favor. Either way, she had to try. Her theory was half-baked at best, but she'd had worse ones that had proved true.

Then, she saw what had given off so much chakra. There was a Genin team up ahead, fighting against another. That couldn't be right. She stopped, clinging to a branch, and watching for a moment. There were three girls from the Sand, pitted against a team of boys from Grass. The person with the intense chakra signature was one of the Sand girls. She was standing in the middle of a ring of trees, and was forming a complicated jutsu. Sakura's eyes had just a little trouble following it, but then she recognized it, and her eyes narrowed.

How many Genin could do summoning jutsu? The girl smiled sweetly as the eagle she had summoned bore down on the Grass nins, and they scattered to the winds. She stopped herself from making an annoyed sound, and kept on going. So, maybe she was wrong. But she was glad that she'd picked up a radio just before she'd left the tower. Setting the frequency to the tower channel, she said, "Anko, what's Uchiha Itachi's position?" This, she did as she stood intentionally in front of one of the cameras.

"Half a kilometer to the south-west of you. He's just…standing there." Anko seemed a little stunned at this.

"Okay. I'll be there in less than a minute." Sakura used every ounce of speed she had, and arrived in the clearing where Itachi was standing. He was staring at a tree, it seemed. "Itachi?" Now, Sakura felt like she was leaving herself open, and she certainly felt dreadfully exposed, but she was trusting to what she knew about the man standing in the middle of the grass. He didn't fight unless it was absolutely necessary.

The man turned to her. "Yes?" Red eyes blinked at her slowly. He looked very much like his brother, but so much older that it would never be said that they were twins.

"Why are you here?"

Those red eyes narrowed, but not before the Sharingan began to spin. "I'm hunting snakes. But there's something else here."

"You're here to kill Orochimaru?" He nodded in answer to her question. Sakura took a deep breath. "Well, then I suppose I should explain something to you. First, I want your word that you will not touch Sasuke." Sakura felt a strange currend of some unknown emotion flow from him, and she wondered if she had gone too far. It was altogether like attempting to pick up a porcupine. One is never sure which way to handle it.

Nodding, the man said, "I will not attack him today. He is not my objective."

Sakura nearly sagged in relief. "Now, sit." She plopped down on the ground, adjusting her uniform pants. To her surprise, he obeyed. After a rather protracted explanation of the Soul Eater and many questions from Itachi, the man sat for a long time, looking at the ground. "Well?"

The missing-nin looked up at her and smiled. It was a very odd expression on him, but it seemed genuine. "Thank you for the information. I would leave the area, if I were you. By way of the easterly route. I am beginning to feel something approaching. It may be the Soul Eater." Sakura nodded, and rose to leave.

"Wait. Who are you?" Itachi's voice was curious. Sakura rolled her eyes before she looked back over her shoulder.

"Haruno Sakura." And she jumped, grabbing the lowest branch of a tree and swinging upward. Now in the treetops, it was a simple matter to skip from branch to branch. Why were things seeming so easy? It was like when Sasuke came back with them. Yes, Itachi may be pretending that he was being civil. He might very well attempt to kill her at any moment. But for some reason, Sakura doubted that. She soon became lost in her thoughts. Veering further east, she headed back to the tower.

Then, she had to swing around a tree as she came to a halt. There was a very complex trap up ahead. It was all chakra-infused trip wires and exploding tags. It looked like there was some kind of underground pressure bomb, as well. Someone was going all-out. She smirked and simply went through. That is, until something from below took hold of her foot and dragged her violently to the ground.

Rolling in midair, Sakura extricated herself from the wire that had snagged her foot, and sent chakra to her feet to land safely. When she straightened completely, she looked around her. It was like a spider had woven a complex web of chakra all around the small clearing. When she followed the glowing blue wires, she saw that they all led to one place. There was a small, quite wiry boy from the Rock sitting on the ground. He looked up at her with dull brown eyes, and smiled.

Sakura pulled out a kunai. "I am acting on orders from the examinations office. There is no need for—" Sakura's speech was cut off as raised a hand, and the kunai was knocked from her grasp by another yet another wire, which wrapped itself around her wrist and constricted painfully. That same wire twined itself around her arm, up to her shoulder, and around her neck before it did the same to her other arm. Another found its way around her torso and legs. "Let me go, you little brat." Sakura was beginning to become angry. The boy merely smiled. It was at this point that his teammates entered the clearing.

"Jinto, you're a moron." A tall girl with long green hair said. "This—" She jabbed a finger at Sakura "—is a Chuunin. She's not involved in the exam. You need to let her go." The girl was sneering at Sakura's captor, who was now pouting. They proceeded to squabble over whether they should just kill her or not. All the while, Sakura's near-legendary temper began to heat up, nearing the boiling point. Finally, she'd had quite enough.

Sakura twisted her hands in their bonds, igniting chakra scalpels around her index fingers on each hand. It was a simple matter to sever them once she did that, and she did the same with the one that held her lower body. Then, she decided that a taste of his own medicine would be just what the doctor ordered, so to speak. She reached into the pouch at her waist, and pulled out two things. Infusing both with chakra would prolong their effects. "You kids better get a move on. This _is_ a test." Sakura casually walked toward them, her hands glowing with chakra. Then, she tossed both to the ground, directly in front of the boy. The flash-bang went off first, as planned. Then the smoke bomb exploded.

"Idiots." Sakura shook her head as she sped off through the forest in order to reach the tower once more. "Never will learn." That had to be the fifth time enemy nins had thought she was not worth trifling with. She wished that they would just take her seriously.

* * *

**A/N:** Well. that was a decent chapter, but it does leave you hanging a bit, doesn't it? I mean, there's the Soul Eater, the whole Uchiha feud, Sakura's insecurities, and then there's the fact that for some reason, it looks like everone's going to converge at the same place: the tower. I wonder if that old building will be able to survive? 


End file.
